Drake Curse strikes again? Rapper blamed for Canada’s World Cup loss to Belgium

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Team Canada may want to consider changing their walkout song from the sounds of Drake’s Started From the Bottom when they take to the pitch to face Croatia in Group F action at Sunday’s World Cup.

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After suffering a 1-0 loss to Belgium in the club’s first World Cup match since 1986, soccer fans were quick to take to social media to blame the “Drake Curse” for the team’s defeat.

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“We all know the reason,” on person wrote alongside a series of laughing-crying emojis and a pic of the Grammy winner posing alongside left-back Alphonso Davies.

More pics flooded Twitter featuring the Hotline Bling hitmaker smiling with various other players on Team Canada as proof the “Drake Curse” was to blame for the loss.

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

Bayern Munich star Davies had a chance to notch the country’s first-ever goal with a penalty kick in the tenth minute, but he was stymied by Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.

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

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

“No one can convince me that Drake Curse is not real. It was over even before it started,” a second added.

For those unaware, the “Drake Curse” emerged after an unscientific study determined that when the God’s Pan star dons the jerseys of the teams he supports they have a tendency to lose.

After Drake met up with the men’s national team following a 4-1 win against Panama in October 2021, fans begged the hip-hop star to keep his distance.

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“There goes our chances,” one critic commented on Twitter, with another asking, “Did we not determine he needs to stay away from Canadian teams for them to win?”

“Not that I don’t like you Drake, but please … stay a bit away from Canada(‘s) Soccer team … we don’t need the Drake curse…just stay with your Raptors or even Maple Leafs, that will be just fine!! Much appreciated,” a third person chimed.

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Talk of a curse has been bubbling for years, but took a 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.

Then-Leafs coach Mike Babcock weighed in on talk of a curse post-game. “I’ve heard lots of things since I’ve come here, but that’s one of the craziest things,” Babcock said when asked his thoughts on the curse. “The game is played on the ice by us. There’s no curse whatsoever.”

That same year, after Drake 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.

Prior to that, he was in the stands cheering Serena Williams at the U.S. Open in 2015 when she was beaten by an unranked player. And when he trumpeted Conor McGregor, the MMA fighter was smashed by Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 236.

More recently, Drake bet on pal Kevin Durant’s Brooklyn Nets to beat the Boston Celtics in the first round of the NBA playoffs (they were swept after losing 116–112 in Game 4). Earlier this spring, he plunked down $427,000 on MMA fighter Justin “The Highlight” Gaethje to beat Charles Oliveira at UFC 274 (Gaethje lost).

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But earlier this spring, Drake won $800,000 after the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Toronto Maple Leafs to force a Game 7 in their opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The Toronto native revealed on his Instagram Story that he was plunking down $400,000 in his belief that the first-round NHL playoff series would stretch to seven games. After Toronto lost 4-3 in overtime, Drake walked away with $1.2 million.

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Drake himself is aware of the chatter that his support brings bad luck. After the Raptors beat the Orlando Magic in the first round of the NBA playoffs in 2019, he quipped to reporters, “Want me to talk about the curse or you guys good?”

Following Canada’s World Cup loss, manager John Herdman said he was “proud” of the team.

“I told them that I lost my first game at the London 2012 Olympics (as manager of the Canadian women’s team) and we went on to win our first medal in 86 years. So it’s how we respond now,” Herdman said per Sports Illustrated.

“I told (my players) they belong here,” Herdman continued, “and we’re going to go and ‘F’ Croatia. That’s as simple as it gets.”

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