As previously fretted about here, Qatar’s bundle-stackin’ status helped power the tiny, sports-free country to its first World Cup bid. The United States reached the final round of voting, but three of five Korea voters jumped to Qatar’s side instead of climbing aboard the Red, White, and Blue, at which point the tie would be broken by BCS standings, just like the Big 12 South.
An analogy? Qatar: Auburn Tigers. The United States: Mississippi State. By that I mean Qatar won, of course, and the U.S. lost. Would never imply Qatar is as dirty as Auburn. In fact, the internet is happy to tell you Qatar is the least corrupt Middle Eastern nation, which is something like being the [insert any joke about anything in the world].
So no international championship soccer at a new stadium near the World Congress Center or The Stryper in Kennesaw. This is a bummer, but Major League Soccer will still make its way to Atlanta in the next decade. With another eight to twelve or whatever years to grow the game domestically, the States should get to host another World Cup relatively soon, and Atlanta’s hub status in a growing region will make it an even likelier host city when we do land the Cup. Even though I’ll be freaking 45 in 2026.
If the 2022 World Cup is awarded to the United States, and Atlanta is selected to be one of 12 host cities, Arthur Blank will be a very happy man. The city has plenty of places for World Cup teams to practice, but no regulation soccer field up to FIFA’s certifications and large enough for a World Cup audience. Unless if we want the world to pile into that glorious Wiz Khalifa structure out by Town Center Mall.
The good news, for those of us who want the World Cup as opposed to those of us who are already upset about the Georgia Dome monster truck events the Cup would displace, is that either way the U.S. is one of three favorites. Japan and South Korea are listed at pointlessly long odds, 33/1 and 40/1 respectively. Only a total Japan or South Korea homer would take those bets.
The decision is scheduled to be announced at 11 a.m. The 2018 Cup will be awarded at 10 a.m., with England the frontrunner over Russia and Spain/Portugal and the Netherlands/Belgium bringing up the rear.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup is up for grabs, with five nations in the running: Australia, Japan, Qatar, South Korea, and the United States. Atlanta is one of the 18 American cities included in the final U.S. bid. Games would be played in the Georgia Dome, which ain't really got a whole lot planned for June 2022 anyway, unless if the 24-game NFL season spreads from May to March by then.
Each finalist country has a mark in its CONS column: Australia's pro sports leagues have refused to give up their stadiums without eight- or nine-figure compensation, the Japan Football Association took the country's failure to get the 2016 Olympics as a bad sign, South Korea doesn't have an 80,000-seat stadium yet, the States just held the 1994 Cup, and Qatar has been accused of collusion with Spain, meaning Qatar might be actual CONS.
Atlanta's soccer history goes back longer than you'd think. In 1968 we hosted the first-ever meeting between an American pro team and an English Premier League team, as your Atlanta Chiefs took down Manchester City somehow.
What are our chances at actually pulling this off? UM, MORGAN FREEMAN VOICEOVER MONTAGE AIN'T FAILED US YET:
Three Asian countries in the final five is a bad sign for Uncle Sam's chances, as it seems to signal an intent to go east, but I have five words for you, daughters and sons of Earth: World Cup final in JerryWorld. You've been convinced. Let's get to it.
You can go here to sign Atlanta's petition, which has the second-most signees of any U.S. city behind Houston. That's likely due to an amusing error that lists most cities as having "NaN" supporters, calling to mind this NSFW Trick Daddy song. I thought maybe the widget just isn't set to handle showing six digits worth of supporters, but it shows NaN for Tampa, so obviously that's not the case.
