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Fortune
Fortune
Alice Hearing

Drake bet $1 million on Argentina to win the World Cup—but lost it all in two minutes

Drake performs onstage; Lionel Messi of Argentina celebrates with the World Cup trophy (Credit: Prince Williams—Wireimage; Alex Livesey—Danehouse/Getty Images)

World-famous singer Drake bet $1 million that Argentina would win the World Cup final against France on Sunday. But despite the game's final result, he still lost the cash. 

While Argentina did pull through, Drake’s bet was placed in the 1x2 market, which doesn’t account for extra time. 

At first it looked as though the star was in luck, and he could win $2.75 million back, as Argentina was ahead 2-0 by half time. But Drake’s hopes were lost in the space of just two minutes when France’s Kylian Mbappé scored two goals, equalizing the scoreboard and turning the game around. 

Both teams scored again in extra time, and Argentina finally earned their trophy in a nail-biting round of penalties. 

“Drake curse” 

Drake’s daring gamble is not his first, as the musician has already bet on several sports games this year. In February, he placed $1.26 million between three wagers for the Rams to win the Super Bowl over the Cincinnati Bengals, taking home $1.4 million. 

But he’s also built up a reputation for siding with losing teams, leading to a widespread joke that he has a curse. Drake lost $100,000 in April when he wagered on the Duke Blue Devils winning against the North Carolina Tar Heels in the Final Four. 

In October, FC Barcelona lost against Real Madrid after Drake bet in their favor; the team had even worn a kit bearing the star’s OVO sound logo as part of a sponsorship by Spotify. 

In November, Drake lost $1.5 million when he bet on Israel Adesanya to win against Alex Pereira in a UFC middleweight title fight.

The “curse” even extends beyond his major bets; after Drake took a picture with Manchester City player Sergio Aguero, the team exited the Champions League. Roma even banned its team from taking photos with the singer in 2019. 

This time, however, Drake’s supposed curse appears to have only affected the man himself. 

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