‘The Drake Curse’ has been one of the most unusual coincidences in sport over the last five years and he almost ruined Lionel Messi and Argentina’s World Cup hopes.
Canadian rap star Drake lost $1m (£818,710) after betting on Argentina to win the World Cup – in normal time.
Lionel Messi was finally able to get his hands on the one trophy that had eluded him throughout his glittering career. After a pulsating 3-3 draw which saw the South American giants lose a two goal lead in the opening 90 minutes to France and collapse in the dying stages of extra-time while leading 3-2, Lionel Scaloni’s side were the ones who were able to hold their nerve in the penalty shootout.javascript:void(0)
However, Drake was not quite able to revel in Argentina’s celebrations, despite the fact he lent his backing to La Albiceleste. Unfortunately for him, his bet was not quite broad enough to secure himself a hefty $2.75m (£2,253,707.50) in winnings.
Sporting a Napoli shirt in honour of legendary Argentina Diego Maradona, Drake was evidently team Argentina on this occasion. “I’ll take Argentina, he’ll take France. That will be a vibe,” Drake said while recording with a friend.
Drake needed Argentina to overcome France in 90 minutes to secure the prize-pot. They appeared to be destined to do just that when Messi stroked home a first half penalty and Angel Di Maria finished off a stunning counterattack to double the lead before half-time.
However, two goals in two minutes from Kylian Mbappe took the match into extra-time and lost Drake his prize money. Luckily for Argentina, they did not completely find themselves on the losing side of the final.
Drake recently lost $2m (£1,639,060) after backing Israel Adesanya to defend his UFC Middleweight title against Alex Pereira. Despite going in as the favourite, Adesanya lost to the Brazilian at UFC 281, who secured the victory in the fifth and final round with a stunning left hook that sent him crashing down to the canvas.
The Canadian also placed $649,000 (£531,874.97) on a hefty accumulator backing Barcelona to win the El Classico against Real Madrid and Arsenal to beat Leeds United. While Mikel Arteta ’s side did manage to squeeze their way past the Yorkshire giants, Real Madrid outclassed the Catalans to win El Classico.
They are the more recent examples of the Drake curse, which has seemingly jinxed so many sports people and teams. While he chose not to show support with his bank account, he did seem to jinx the Canadian national team, as they suffered a group stage exit, losing all three of their matches, days after posing for photos with Drake. The rap star’s previous list of victims also includes Anthony Joshua on the eve of his shock defeat to Andy Ruiz Jr and Conor McGregor’s defeat to Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2019.
