Russia named to host World Cup in 2018
Most of those in the crowd gathered at the Newseum on Thursday morning to watch the announcement of the destinations for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups were stationed on the main floor, craning their necks to look almost straight up at the museum’s massive high-definition screen.
When the announcement was made shortly after 10:30 a.m. that FIFA’s executive committee shockingly had chosen Qatar over the United States for the 2022 tournament, everyone’s necks might’ve stayed in the same place. But the faces all dropped.
“Disappointed” was the first word uttered by U.S. Soccer Foundation president Ed Foster-Simeon and D.C. United coach Ben Olsen. The tone was markedly different in Zurich, Switzerland, where the vote took place.
“Obviously, it’s a devastating result,” D.C. United president and CEO Kevin Payne said in a phone interview from Zurich, where he was accompanying members of the U.S. bid delegation. “I think everybody was shocked. We knew that Qatar had done a good job with their bid, but at the same time, I think we felt that the merits of our bid were such that we would ultimately prevail.”
Not only did Qatar win out — along with Russia, which captured the 2018 World Cup in a surprise upset of favored England — it did so convincingly. The United States was defeated 14-8 in the final of four rounds of voting, in which Qatar never claimed fewer than 10 votes.
The outcome raised the specter of heavy influence from the oil wealth that backed both winning bids.
“It’s politics. It’s friendships and relationships. It’s alliances. It’s tactics,” U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati said in a conference call with reporters. “There are far too many permutations, especially with these two World Cups being decided on the same day, and I’m not smart enough to figure out how all of those played out in these two elections.”
In the end, the committee opted for the chance to stage the 2022 tournament in the Middle East for the first time, even if it will be in a country smaller than Connecticut where the temperature will soar well into the 100s every day of the tournament.
Soccer in the United States, which received a massive kick start from the 1994 World Cup, now will have to search elsewhere for the inspiration to keep growing.
“It would’ve helped in 2022 to push us along quicker,” Olsen said. “But I’m not worried about that. Soccer is doing just fine in this country, and we’ll continue to grow. Our league, our infrastructure, our youth, we’re doing just fine.”
