Consider me officially disappointed. I was looking forward to a sweet trip to England or Spain/Portugal in 2018 and the US hosting in 2022. But FIFA went with Russia and Qatar receptively. I am shocked about both, feel bad for England who really had their heart set on 2018 and thought they deserved it. It's the motherland of soccer.
As for the US, disappointing but life goes on. Sure they were the practical choice but since when is FIFA practical. FIFA is now going with 4 straight risky countries in a row (South Africa/Brazil/Russia/Qatar), but South Africa proved that it can be done. Even though they had a tough time filling in the stadium and ended up with an overall financial loss, the pageantry of having Africa host the beautiful game for the first time was too much for FIFA not to overlook, thus having first time hosts Russia and Qatar winning the bids. FIFA president Sepp Blatter always wanted to bring soccer to the "Arab World" and he got his wish. Definitely a man about legacy and is fulfilling it with Africa and now the Middle East.
As for the US, they go back to square one, losing the Olympic Chicago bid to Rio in 2016 and now the WC in 2022. They have 2026 and I think they are the early favorites to host now that China is no longer eligible to host because Qatar is considered in the Asian conference in soccer.
And who knows. I'm planning on going to Brazil in 2014 and maybe Russia/Qatar would be a cool place to go to. We'll see.
Here's a preview of the first five Qatar stadiums that will be built for 2022.
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