With Australia, South Korea and Japan eliminated, it came down to Qatar and the United States in the final round of voting Thursday morning in Zurich, Switzerland. The voting, done by FIFA's 22 executive directors, is like a giant game of survivor, with the highest vote-getters moving forward until one bid has the necessary 12 votes. In the end, according to Grant Wahl, it was Qatar edging the U.S. 14-8 on the final ballots.
Qatar won final round of World Cup '22 voting 14-8 over the United States.
Grant Wahl
GrantWahl
As they say, close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. The U.S. came close in the final, but watched the hand grenade blow up in their face as the voting ended. But was it actually that close? According to the first round votes, it wasn't.
Shocking that Australia, considered to be one of the top-three, was first to go. With the U.S. only garnering three votes, and Qatar just one away from the majority in the first round, Qatar controlled the vote from beginning to end. What is interesting is the shift in voting, with Qatar sitting at 11 votes in the first round, losing one in the second, jumping back to 11 in the third and finally gathering the necessary 14 votes in the end.
In the 2018 World Cup bidding, England wasn't so lucky. Thought to have a good shot at hosting the 2018 edition of the World Cup, England didn't even make it out of the first round, garnering only two votes. Russia picked up nine in the first round, following closely by Spain/Portugal's seven. In the end, it was Russia winning out, earning the right to host the 2018 World Cup.