Sorry mate but you (along with many others) have missed the point. As a whole the US doesn't seem to care about football other than once every four years for a month at a time and that is the major problem. Is your league better? Yes. Do more people follow footy than 10 years ago in the US? Yes. But still, whatever following and passion you guys have for the sport is laughable compared to most of the world. Also, for all the hype about improvement your league is still terrible, arguably worse than some of the Asian leagues. I know it takes time to catch up, but you guys got your chance at a popularity boost in 1994, time to spread the wealth. Could you imagine having the Super Bowl hosted in Italy? Kind of an erroneous example I know, but I think you can see the point I'm trying to make.
That being said, I TAKE BACK almost everything I said against the US bid. If I could have things my way every 3 out of 4 (roughly) World Cups would be played in Europe or South America. But considering who the US was running against they were no doubt the lesser of many evils. And yes, you guys do have a solid infrastructure in place. Maybe not the atmosphere, the historic stadiums or public transit of other areas but a legitimate infrastructure no doubt. Australia I don't know much about but I'm skeptical whether they have the football institution, and probably not the infrastructure to host one. Even just getting there is a nightmare.
Qatar is just mind bottleing...the heat, the political instability of the region, the lack of a footballing culture, a non existent market for football (IMO). And worst of all the lack of infrastructure, they will have to build nine fucking stadiums to host, and while they are sitting on money and have time it just won't be sustainable afterwards. This is truly evidence of how out of touch FIFA is with football. With many (English) clubs being taken over by foreign owners (mine included) you have to think that Italy, Spain and South America are the last places where football is really run by footballing people.
As for 2018, fair play to Russia. I think it's a real shame that it didn't go to England but I can see why they chose them. Still, they don't have the football climate (not literally speaking) or history of England, Spain or the Netherlands. I think overall it's a unconventional pick but a solid one, but to follow it up with and even more controversial pick four years later is ridiculous. I think FIFA need to do away with regional restrictions for WC bids. Russia would have looked like a God amongst men in the 2022 group.
I probably would have gone to a World Cup that would have featured the likes of Wembley, Old Trafford, Camp Nou or the Bernabeu but I think I'll pass on Russia and certainly Qatar. I don't want to be constantly watching my back being afraid of a towel head trying to yank me. That rant was much longer that intended, my b. Finally, LOL at people who still think I support the English national squad.
