World Cup Awarded to Russia, Qatar

FIFA has announced that Russia will host the world’s biggest soccer tournament in 2018, and it will be held in Qatar in 2022.

Russia beat out bids from England, Netherlands/Belgium, and Portugal/Spain to host the tournament, which is held every four years and generally alternates between European and non-European countries. English fans had desperately hoped to host the tournament, because despite having invented the game the English have only won the World Cup once, the sole time it was held in England in 1966. Qatar, which beat out Japan, Australia, and the U.S., is a controversial choice for 2022; the country is extremely hot, has never even qualified for the World Cup, and limits the consumption of alcohol. In the lead up to the vote to determine the host, there were allegations of corruption among FIFA delegates.