Drake wins over $1m bet on Canada after South Africa World Cup defeat

Canadian rapper Drake is celebrating a substantial financial windfall after Canada defeated South Africa 1-0 in their FIFA World Cup group stage clash on Sunday, securing him a return of just over one million US dollars on a wager he placed before kick-off.

Drake disclosed on Instagram that he had staked $770,000 on Canada to progress in the tournament. The victory not only delivered him a tidy profit but also kept Canada — one of the co-host nations of the 2026 World Cup — alive in the competition, as the side booked their place in the Round of 16.

The rapper revealed that a playful exchange with South African DJ Black Coffee ahead of the match had motivated him to increase the size of his original bet. Sharing a screenshot of the wager on social media, Drake suggested the messages from the Johannesburg-born DJ had pushed him to raise the financial stakes further.

Drake has cultivated a reputation for publicly announcing large-scale sports bets through his high-profile partnership with online gambling platform Stake, which he reportedly signed for around $100 million in 2022. He has wagered on events ranging from the NBA Finals and UFC fights to international football tournaments, openly sharing both victories and defeats with his followers.

The latest win arrives amid ongoing scrutiny of Drake's gambling activities. A Bloomberg Businessweek investigation earlier this year raised questions about his unusually high success rates on certain games via Stake. The platform denied the allegations, calling the report "categorically incorrect," while co-founder Ed Craven dismissed suggestions that celebrity partners receive any form of preferential treatment. Stake also faces several lawsuits in the United States alleging it operates as an unlicensed online casino, with Drake named in at least one as a paid promoter of the service.