For the World Cup next year, Canada has two host cities, a men’s team ready for a home stage, and a football culture that has grown up fast. Into that mix steps Drake, who for the last decade has been the country’s most visible sporting superfan and its savviest fashion collaborator. There is no formal title attached to his World Cup role. He does not need one. In practice he has already become the image people see when they picture Canada throwing the world’s biggest football party in 2026.
That happened through a blend of music, city branding, kit culture, and the endlessly memed superstition that keeps following him from arena to arena. It is part marketing, part myth, and wholly Canadian.
Drake the Six GOD is repping Canada
The tournament is coming home to Toronto and Vancouver
First, the stage. Canada is co-hosting in 2026, with matches in Toronto and Vancouver. Toronto gets the country’s first men’s World Cup match on Canadian soil and hosts Canada’s opener on 12 June 2026. Vancouver’s BC Place has seven matches, including one featuring the national team on 18 June. The final is set for MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on 19 July. The United States will stage most knockout rounds, but Canada’s two coastal hubs will be a continuous festival for a month.
The geography matters because it maps onto Drake’s orbit. Toronto is Drake’s home and his canvas. According to government stats, he’s responsible alone for at least 5% of Toronto’s tourism income. Vancouver is West Coast glamorous and built for a global drop-in. Put those two cities on the match map and you have a ready-made runway for the country’s most famous supporter.
The Raptors blueprint
To understand why Drake feels inevitable around a Canadian mega-event, go back to 2013 when he became the Toronto Raptors’ global ambassador. The appointment turned more than a courtside habit into an institutional role. The club leaned into the connection, later putting his OVO brand on the Raptors’ practice facility and on annual themed nights that blurred sport and music.
That partnership showed how a team can borrow the reach of a superstar and how a superstar can rewrite how a franchise feels. In that basketball-first city moment, Drake made supporting a Toronto team look aspirational rather than provincial.
Argentina took a shot at Drake after he lost a $300,000 bet on Canada to beat them in the Copa América semifinal, using rap rival Kendrick Lamar's song to send him a message 👀 pic.twitter.com/Wz4aV56Gxp
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) July 10, 2024
Take Care of the soundtrack
Canada Soccer has begun to treat music as a pillar rather than an afterthought. The federation created a “Perfect Pitch” programme led by producer Boi-1da (who produces for Drake) as its first National Teams Music Ambassador, pulling in a growing roster of Canadian artists to build an official soundtrack and fund youth football through the Canada Soccer Foundation. Even if Drake is not the named music ambassador, this shift signals how culture will be curated for the tournament.
The playlists, the fan-park anthems, the walk-out edits, the after-dark celebrations in Toronto’s neighbourhoods and along Vancouver’s seawall will matter as much as tactics and xG to the ambient memory of 2026. When football federations move toward music in a deliberate way, Drake’s presence becomes gravitational.
The possibility of a World Cup Final Super Bowl-style performance has also been floated publicly by FIFA’s leadership. That does not confirm a booking, yet it reinforces the simple equation at the heart of the moment. If Canada throws a party, Drake is expected to be in the room. If he is in the room, he is at the centre.
NOCTA, kits, and the rise of football fashion
If the last World Cup was a parade of federation shirts and throwback motifs, the next one is shaping into a broader streetwear moment. That is territory Drake knows. His Nike sub-label, NOCTA, began as an urban uniform but has spread into sport capsules. In 2025 NOCTA crossed the white lines in earnest through a headline partnership with Venezia FC.
The Italian club’s NOCTA-designed jerseys and outerwear blurred the line between matchwear and lifestyle pieces and landed in the global football-fashion press. This was more than a celebrity capsule. It was a proof of concept for Drake’s creative team executing inside a football identity with credibility.
His OVO brand has also partnered with Spotify and Barcelona to make custom kits for an El Clasico clash in 2022. Serious drip.
The Drake Curse, inverted
No story about Drake and sport arrives without the superstition. The Drake Curse began as a running joke built from a handful of Photo-With-Drake coincidences that preceded losses. It stuck because it was funny and because it attached to big clubs and big stars. Over time it became a flexible myth that supporters could deploy in the banter economy. Then the results started balancing out. Data-style post-mortems have argued the curse is mostly survivorship bias.
The Blue Jays lost two straight games after Drake showed up. The curse lives https://t.co/YLwsrUyLgc
— Nato Jacobs (@dcmadness202) November 2, 2025
For Canada in 2026 the curse functions as a pressure valve. A host nation is under a spotlight. Canada’s men will play at home with the scrutiny that comes with it. The Drake myth becomes a national in-joke that Canadians can own. If they win, the meme is material for celebrations. If they lose, the meme becomes a shield for a day on social media while the discourse cools down. Either way it keeps the conversation Canadian.
Alphonso, Jonathan, and a cultural bridge
The men on the pitch will still define Canada’s football moment. Alphonso Davies and Jonathan David are the faces of the team itself, with a growing cast of starters playing in Europe and MLS. The “face of Team Canada” label for Drake is a cultural shorthand rather than a literal handover. Watch any host tournament and you will see the same duality. The side’s talismans are the football face. The country’s artists and citymakers are the event face. You need both for a tournament to feel like home.
FAQs
Is Drake officially an ambassador for Canada’s World Cup team?
No. Canada Soccer’s formal music ambassador is producer Boi-1da, who is leading the “Perfect Pitch” programme with a slate of Canadian artists. Drake’s influence is cultural rather than official.
Will Drake perform at the World Cup?
A performance has been publicly discussed by FIFA’s leadership as an appealing idea. Nothing is confirmed, but the possibility has been acknowledged.
Why is Toronto central to this story?
Toronto hosts Canada’s first men’s World Cup match on 12 June 2026 and is Drake’s home base. His long-running connection with the city’s teams and venues makes him a natural presence during the tournament.
What about Vancouver?
Vancouver hosts seven matches, including a Canada group game on 18 June 2026. The city’s event pedigree and scenic setting make it a showcase for football and fashion culture that Drake’s NOCTA aesthetic complements.
Is the Drake Curse still a thing?
It survives mostly as a meme. Studies and high-profile wins have challenged its predictive power. It remains a lighthearted subplot that Canadian fans can repurpose as needed.
How does NOCTA factor into the World Cup?
NOCTA’s move into football with Venezia FC shows Drake’s team operating credibly in the kit-fashion space. Canada’s match shirts are separate, but the broader streetwear tone around the tournament aligns with what NOCTA does.
Who are the actual football faces of Team Canada?
On the pitch, Alphonso Davies, Jonathan David and their teammates are the footballing faces. Drake is the cultural face that helps project Canada’s World Cup vibe beyond the ninety minutes.
When will Canada’s 2026 kits be revealed?
The expectation is a spring 2026 release for Nike’s Canada shirts. That keeps the reveal close to the tournament and maximises attention.
Where is the 2026 World Cup final?
The final will be played at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on 19 July 2026. Canada’s role centres on group matches in Toronto and Vancouver.
By Nicky Helfgott / @NickyHelfgott1 on Twitter (X)
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