On Thursday, FIFA announced its decision in awarding the World Cup soccer tournaments for 2018 and 2022. For the 2018 games, it was Russia who ultimately beat out England, Spain-Portugal and Belgium-Netherlands for host. As for the 2022 World Cup, the final competition narrowed down to Australia, South Korea, the United States, Japan, and Qatar.
In its final decision, the 22 member selection committee will enable Qatar to write itself into tournament history as the host for the first World Cup to be held in a Middle Eastern country.
Modern technology and money played a key role in allowing the committee to give Qatar the nod. There had been concerns that the heat in this desert country, where daytime temperatures can easily soar well above 110 degrees, would be too much for both spectators and athletes. To address this issue, Qatar will be spending in excess of $4 billion to build stadiums with climate controlled air-conditioning systems.