U.S Falls short to Qatar for 2022 FIFA

The oil-rich nation of Qatar holds about 1.7 million people, that is 500,000 less that Houston and is smaller than that of Connecticut. However, that didn't matter to the voters of FIFA, as the choose this Arab nation over the United States. The votes came down to the last two countries, knocking out Australia, Japan and South Korea and lastly the United States, naming the winner of the 2022 FIFA World Cup host --Qatar.

The tiny desert nation, will host the World Cup for the first time, as will Russia in 2018 (who was named the host minutes before). So is Qatar the right choice for the World cup in 2022?

A nation of 1.7 million people, you can double or triple that in 2022. Which means: busy, crowed street and let's not forget the crime that will mostly likely take place (like it does at any highly anticipated event like this.)  The blistering heat of course was a factor, when it came to voting, but the middle eastern country assured air-conditioned stadiums for all games.  FIFA's concern for the heat during the world cup was managed to be shut down,since the Qataris and others did some research of their own about the heat and the World Cup. It seems the average high in late June is 106 degrees. Qatar said the World Cup thrived despite hot temperatures during tournaments in Mexico in 1970 and 1986, and the U.S. in 1994.

Qatar has never even qualified for a World Cup and their 30-minute presentation may have just did it for them. Their presentation underlined how the tournament could unify a region ravaged by conflict. Presenters also promised to dismantle the stadiums built for the tournament and give them to needy countries--that was probably the kicker for FIFA.

The U.S. Soccer Federation spent millions of dollars on its bid and brought over former President Bill Clinton for its closing presentation, was hoping to bring the World Cup back to America for the first time since 1994 and boost the steady but slow growth of the sport in the U.S. Clinton, stated in an interview with The Economist, "The FIFA people were in a mood to give it to people who didn’t have it. I think they wanted to make soccer a world sport.”

The World Cup was played in the United States for the first time in 1994, setting a record with 3.58 million tickets sold, and the U.S. Soccer Federation had hoped a second World Cup in America would help the country move into the game's elite, giving a big lift to Major League Soccer in the process.

The U.S. also has hosted the women's World Cup twice.