Published December 2, 2010

The United States lost its bid to Qatar for the FIFA World Cup in 2022. Had we won, Gillette Stadium almost certainly would have played host to many soccer matches.

FIFA also announced Russia would host the tournament in 2018.

Russia was chosen over England and joint bids by Spain-Portugal and Netherlands-Belgium. Qatar was competing with the U.S., Australia, Japan and South Korea.

The ESPN guy said it best: “We have 12 years to agree on the pronunciation of Qatar.”