By Cole | WorldCupBetting.ca
Drake has spent the better part of a decade losing enormous sums of money on sports. Seven figures on UFC fights. Six figures on boxing matches. A million dollars on Argentina to beat France in 90 minutes in Qatar Argentina won, but on penalties, so the bet didn’t count. The Drake Curse is one of the most consistent forces in professional sports.
So when Canada faced Morocco in the Round of 16 on July 4th, the Toronto rapper did something nobody expected: he bet against his own country.
On Friday night, Drake posted a screenshot to Instagram. His pick: Morocco to advance. His stake, placed on Stake: one dollar. His potential return: $1.41. His caption: “Won the last time… gonna try reverse curse strategy.”
Let that land for a second. One of the wealthiest entertainers on the planet, a man who once put $770,000 on Canada to beat South Africa and walked away with over a million, decided his best move before a historic knockout match was to throw a single loonie at the opposition.
It was, genuinely, hilarious.
The logic was sound, even if the execution was absurd
You have to respect the thinking. Drake has watched his name become synonymous with bad outcomes. He backs a fighter, they get knocked out. He tweets support for a team, they collapse. The curse has become so culturally embedded that bookmakers have reportedly tracked it as a market signal.
So faced with Canada’s biggest match in football history, their first-ever Round of 16 against the side that reached the semi-finals at Qatar 2022, Drake concluded the kindest thing he could do for Les Rouges was to quietly put Morocco in his betslip and get out of the way.
The reverse curse theory is not new. Fans have tried it with Drake before. But Drake trying it on himself, for $1, while publicly announcing the strategy to his 140 million Instagram followers, is a level of self-aware comedy that most sports bettors don’t achieve.
How it played out
Morocco won 3-0.
So either the curse fired in the wrong direction, Morocco were simply the better side on the night, which at those odds most books agreed with, or Drake’s $1.41 reverse curse strategy requires more testing before we draw conclusions.
What we do know: Drake pocketed the full $1.41. Champagne Papi nets another winner.
The South Africa win is the important context here
The reason this story has legs isn’t just the $1. It’s the contrast. Seven days earlier, Drake had put $770,000 on Canada to beat South Africa, collected $1,001,000 when Eustaquio scored in the 92nd minute, and posted the slip to social media to a wave of Canadian pride.
That bet felt different. It was a genuine show of faith in a Canadian side making history. It moved people. The combination of that win, Canada’s historic advance, and Drake’s very public role as the country’s most famous bettor made him, briefly, the most beloved figure in Canadian football circles.
The $1 Morocco bet is the punchline to that story. And it landed perfectly.
What it means for the Drake Curse going forward
Honestly, the data is getting complicated. His South Africa bet won. His Morocco reverse curse also technically won. Whether you credit the curse, the reverse curse, or just the fact that Morocco were -235 favourites, Drake is running hot at this World Cup.
If you’re the betting type, the question is whether Drake’s involvement is a signal worth fading. Our view: Morocco were the correct pick at those odds regardless of who Drake was backing. But if Argentina go deep and Drake starts posting slips, you’ll want to know about it. We’ll be watching.
Cole covers World Cup betting markets for WorldCupBetting.ca. Follow the site for daily odds updates, predictions, and Canadian betting news throughout the tournament.
Cole Gallagher covers soccer betting for WorldCupBetting.ca, specialising in match predictions, odds analysis and tournament futures. Based in Toronto, he has followed the Canadian men’s national team since their 2022 qualifying campaign and brings a line-shopping, data-first approach to every pick.