Drake loses $300,000 bet after Argentina beats Canada at Copa America

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Social media was quick to blame Drake after Canada lost its semifinal match against Argentina 2-0 at the Copa America Tuesday night.

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The Toronto rapper plunked down $300,000 on the Canadian Men’s National Soccer Team to beat Lionel Messi-led Argentina National Football Team in its Copa debut. But he did acknowledge that the odds were stacked against him captioning his post on Instagram: “This could get Messi.”

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Going into the game, the Canadian team were huge underdogs. But had they won, Drake would have pocketed nearly $2.9 million.

Argentina also beat the Canadians 2-0 when they squared off in the June 20th tournament opener in Atlanta.

Now Canada will jet off to Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte for Saturday’s third-place game.

On social media, some fans blamed the “Drake Curse” for Canada’s loss. For those unaware, the “Drake Curse” emerged after an unscientific study determined that the teams the One Dance hitmaker supports have a tendency to lose.

“If he ever bets on you, it’s game over,” one person summarized on X, with another swiping, “He keeps wasting his money every time he (places) a bet.”

Other soccer fans used the loss as an opportunity to rib Drake, who has an estimated net worth that’s north of $250 million, over his recent beef with fellow rapper Kendrick Lamar. “Drake getting L’s from all parts of the world,” one person wrote alongside photos of Messi and Lamar.

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The official account of the Argentinian Football Team got in the action, tweeting a photo of the club celebrating and captioning it “Not Like Us” — which is the title of a Lamar diss track aimed at Drake.

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“Curse” chatter ramps up regularly when Drake publicly shows off bets or dons the jerseys of teams he supports.

During the 2022 World Cup, soccer fans blamed the “Curse” for Team Canada’s opening loss to Belgium.

“We all know the reason,” one person wrote alongside a series of laughing-crying emojis and a pic of Billboard’s Artist of the Decade posing alongside left-back Alphonso Davies.

More pics flooded Twitter featuring the God’s Plan singer smiling with various other players on Team Canada as proof the “Curse” was to blame for the loss.

ESPN noted that Canada was the first World Cup team since 1978 to attempt at least 20 shots and a penalty kick and not score a goal.

While Canada outshot Belgium 21-9, the players only managed to kick three shots on goal.

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“Alphonso Davies didn’t listen to the Gods,” one fan tweeted after the match. “Drake’s curse is real.”

During that same tournament, Drake went on to bet $1 million on Argentina to win the 2022 World Cup Final. But that wager failed to pay off when Messi and Co. won the title via a penalty shootout.

Last month, the five-time Grammy winner bet $500,000 on the Edmonton Oilers to win the Stanley Cup. He saw that money vanish when the Florida Panthers won Game 7, 2-1.

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Drake also saw $500,000 flutter away when he laid odds on the Dallas Mavericks to beat the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals.

Earlier this year, the music superstar lost $700,000 when he bet on defending UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland to beat South African challenger Dricus Du Plessis in the main event of UFC 297 at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena.

Talk of a “Curse” has been bubbling for years after the lyricist was blamed for Serena Williams’ loss to an unranked player at the 2015 U.S. Open, but it took a strong foothold in 2019 when Drake showed up during Game 4 of the NHL playoffs between Toronto and the Boston Bruins in Maple Leafs gear and guess what? The Leafs lost 6-4.

That same year, after the rhymester took a photo with Paris Saint-Germain’s Layvin Kurzawa, he was blamed for the soccer club’s 5-1 loss to Lille. As a result, Italy’s AS Roma banned its players from taking selfies with the Juno winner until after its season ended.

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During the NCAA football playoffs in 2019, Drake publicly backed the University of Alabama and the team was throttled 44-16 by the Clemson Tigers.

But it hasn’t all been losses.

At this year’s Super Bowl, Drake made a massive $1.1 million gamble on the Kansas City Chiefs, who narrowly beat the San Francisco 49ers 25-22. “I can’t bet against the Swifties,” he said on Instagram, making a nod to Taylor Swift’s relationship with Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.

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The wordsmith also bucked the jinx when the Toronto Raptors, a team he reps as their global ambassador, won the 2019 NBA Championship over the heavily favoured Golden State Warriors.

And he’s well aware that talk of a “Curse” is popular among sports fans. He embraced it to doom the Philadelphia 76ers during the NBA Playoffs that same year by wearing a pair of Sixers shorts when the Raps played them in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

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But in 2019, then-Leafs head coach Mike Babcock dismissed talk that Drake’s support means the kiss of death ahead of Toronto’s loss to the Bruins.

“That’s probably the craziest thing I’ve ever heard,” Babcock said. “The game is played on the ice by us. There’s no curse whatsoever.”

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