Canadian rap superstar Drake has staked 770,000 USDT (Tether), valued at more than N1 billion, on Canada to defeat South Africa in their 2026 FIFA World Cup Round of 32 clash.
The Grammy Award-winning artiste placed the wager on Sunday, June 28, 2026, just hours before kickoff, and shared a screenshot of the betting slip on his social media accounts.
The cryptocurrency bet, worth about $770,000, could earn him a return of approximately 1.001 million USDT, equivalent to well over N1.5 billion, if Canada defeats South Africa and advances to the Round of 16.
Drake said the high-stakes wager was inspired by friendly banter with South African DJ Black Coffee.
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“@realblackcoffee was chirping in the DM. I had to raise my stakes,” the rapper wrote while posting the betting slip.
The post quickly gained traction across social media, reigniting discussion about the so-called “Drake curse,” a long-running superstition among sports fans that teams and athletes publicly backed by the Canadian entertainer often fail to win.
Drake has built a reputation for placing multimillion-dollar bets on major sporting events, including football, basketball, boxing and mixed martial arts, recording a mix of high-profile wins and costly losses.
Canada and South Africa were scheduled to face off at 3:00 p.m. EDT on Sunday in one of the opening fixtures of the expanded 48-team FIFA World Cup knockout stage, with the winner progressing to the Round of 16.