World Cup: Drake Places N1bn Bet on Canada
Drake has thrown more than a billion naira behind Canada ahead of their FIFA World Cup Round of 32 clash with South Africa, and football fans who follow his betting record already know how dangerous that can be for the team he picks.
The Canadian rapper placed a $770,000 wager, worth over N1 billion, on Canada to defeat South Africa, revealing the bet on social media and saying he was motivated by a message from South African DJ Black Coffee. ” @realblackcoffee was chirping in the DM. I had to raise my stakes,” Drake wrote. The slip, placed through the crypto betting platform Stake, showed a potential payout of $1,001,000 if Canada win.
The wager has loaded extra weight onto an already heavy knockout fixture. Canada face South Africa on Sunday, June 28, 2026, at Los Angeles Stadium, in what is the first World Cup knockout match in the history of both nations. Canada advanced with four points as Group B runners-up despite a 2 to 1 loss to Switzerland that snapped a nine match unbeaten run, having earlier hammered nine man Qatar 6 to 0 for their first ever World Cup win. South Africa, one of the surprises of the tournament, reached the last 32 for the first time after a shock 1 to 0 win over South Korea, built on a winner from Thapelo Maseko and another strong display from captain Ronwen Williams.
For all his confidence, history is not on Drake’s side. Fans have long joked about the so called “Drake Curse,” the belief that teams and athletes he backs tend to lose. The pattern is well documented. Ahead of the 2026 Super Bowl in February, Drake revealed a $1 million bet on the New England Patriots, only for the Seattle Seahawks to win 29 to 13. By that point his public gambling record stood at 30 wins and 54 losses, with an all time deficit of about $786,000.
Soccer in particular has been unkind to him. A website called TheDrakeCurse tracks his public bets, and by early 2026 it put his soccer losses at around $1.9 million. During the 2022 World Cup, his seven figure bet on Argentina against France went down after the final went to a penalty shootout, counting as a loss even though Argentina lifted the trophy.
The rapper himself has made peace with the running joke. In a May interview, he described himself as a “flawed sports bettor,” admitting that betting is “not my gift” while insisting there is “no Drake curse.”
His Stake partnership keeps these wagers in the spotlight. Drake has worked with the platform since 2022, reportedly earning up to $100 million a year, and regularly shares screenshots of his biggest bets. Whether the Canada gamble cashes or feeds the curse meme yet again will be settled on the pitch in Los Angeles, with the winner moving on to the Round of 16.