Today, 22 FIFA members voted to put the World Cup in Russia and Qatar in 2018 and 2022. This comes as a bit of a surprise when there were countries like the US and Australia bidding against Qatar. Russia receiving the 2018 bid was not a huge shock after allegations surfaced that England FIFA members had possibly participated in unethical business practices (To put it nicely).

So some stats on Qatar. First for all of you who have never even heard of it, it is in the Middle East, a peninsula sticking off of Saudi Arabia. The population is just over 1.5 million with 4, 416 square miles of land, making it the smallest country in land and population to ever host a World Cup. Qatar has the second highest GDP per capita in the world, with wealth coming from its large amount of oil and gas reserves. The country is an absolute monarchy, being ruled by the al-Thani family since the mid-19th century.

Obviously Qatar has the resources to build stadiums and other necessary infrastructure for the World Cup but there are some potential problems. First Qatar is a strict Muslim country, and soccer hooligans have a tendency to make religious people upset.

Also the temperatures get up to 50 degrees Celsius or 122 degrees Fahrenheit. For athletes who are playing many games and playing their hardest, conditions this hot are not healthy or good for the game. I know I could not play my best in conditions that hot. How are the English players who play at 70 degrees at the warmest supposed to go play their best in 122 degree weather? Another potential problem is that, because the country is so small, the stadiums will have to be close together. This concentrates fans together and can cause problems.

I am sure that FIFA looked closely at all the pros and cons of chosing Qatar and I truly feel that Qatar will pull out all the stops to impress the world. They will be the first Middle Eastern country to host the World Cup and FIFA should be applauded for finding a country that was in the Middle East that could safely host the World Cup.

Although I am upset the World Cup will not be in my own country, there are positives and I look forward to getting to explore another country and meet new soccer fans. Qatar has money and a want to impress. Those two go very well together in the eyes of FIFA.