drake vs messi Lionel Messi survived 'Drake curse': Rapper bet $1 million on Argentina to win World Cup final — and lost

Rapper Drake was so sure that Argentina would be on song in the 2022 FIFA World Cup final that he placed a huge wager on the result.

The superstar’s stake, which he revealed in a post to his Instagram following of more than 127 million on the eve of the showpiece in Qatar, might not have increased the confidence of Argentina captain Lionel Messi and the fans who eventually celebrated his team beating France via a penalty shootout on Sunday.

Drake has been known to back losers in high-profile bets on sporting events, and Argentina needed all the help they could get against the reigning champions, with France striker Kylian Mbappe scoring a hat-trick to twice haul his team back into the contest. Even despite Argentina’s ultimate triumph, Drake still technically lost his bet, according to reports.

How much did Drake stake? Is he a bad omen for athletes and sports teams, and why did his bet fail? Here’s what we know.

MORE: Argentina vs France score, highlights, result from 2022 FIFA World Cup final

Drake World Cup final bet

Drake was 10 minutes away from a $2.75m (£2.3m) windfall – but Argentina failed to triumph inside the regulation 90 minutes, so his gamble on them to prevail within that timeframe lost.

That may not trouble the Canadian as much as it might many gamblers, as the 36-year-old is worth around $250m (£206 million) according to Celebrity Net Worth.

What did Drake say on Instagram about Argentina vs France?

Drake tagged in Roshstein, who describes himself as “the longest active slot streamer” and has a following of more than 127,000, adding that “my bet is in for tomorrow” alongside a series of party emojis.

    

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“I’ll take Argentina,” Drake said in a discussion on TikTok while wearing the shirt of Napoli, the Italian club with a link to Argentina because their stadium is named after late Albiceleste icon Diego Maradona, who used to play for them.

Roshstein also calls himself a “casino-philosopher with an incredible technique” and posed with Drake in October, praising him for providing the “greatest stream”.

“Thank you for the opportunity,” Roshstein said at the time, sharing a photo of himself with Drake in Ontario while the musician wore an Arsenal shirt.

    

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MORE: Best stats and facts as Argentina and Messi end long wait for World Cup glory

What is the ‘Drake curse’?

From Juventus and Manchester City to the Italy and Mexico national teams, Drake has not been shy to wear football shirts in the past.

There are suspicions among some fans that a ‘Drake curse’ has affected numerous teams and athletes with whom he has associated himself.

Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain are among the football teams who have been handed defeats off the back of a photo of Drizzy with their jersey, while in US sports, the likes of the Philadelphia 76ers and Kentucky Wildcats have felt the full force of it.

Argentina fans seeing Drake has bet on them to win ? pic.twitter.com/t0nK36x3dN

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) December 18, 2022

UFC megastar Conor McGregor was soundly beaten in the biggest fight of his career when he lost to Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2018, having been with Drake at the weigh-in and supported at ringside on the night by the artist.

British heavyweight boxer Anthony Joshua tweeted that he would break the curse before his fight against Andy Ruiz Jr in 2019, but the pledge became a nightmare when he suffered a shock knockout defeat in the first loss of his career and lost his titles.

Most recently, Drake’s logo appeared on a one-off Barcelona shirt for their huge showdown with arch-rivals Real Madrid in the game known as ‘El Clasico’ in October 2022.

Drake betting on Argentina to win the World Cup while wearing a Napoli top ?? pic.twitter.com/EfP8OmmMRr

— Italian Football TV (@IFTVofficial) December 17, 2022

Barcelona had been top of the table and unbeaten going in to the game but were beaten 3-1 to lose first place to their opponents, whose scorers included Karim Benzema, the France international ruled out of the World Cup through injury.

The curse almost hit Argentina, who were 2-0 ahead and seemingly cruising before Mbappe struck twice in two minutes with under 10 minutes to go. With two minutes of extra time remaining, Mbappe netted again to make it 3-3 and force penalties.

Argentina vs France betting odds

Here’s how the odds looked before kickoff.

Odds via BetMGM (USA), Sports Interaction (Canada), SkyBet (UK), and Ladbrokes (Australia).

Note: Odds above for 90 minutes of regulation except “to advance.”