The race for the 2018 WC is wide open. All of the bids come from Europe and when FIF released their technical reports England came out with the highest marks. The country boasts arguably the most watched soccer league in the world, the English Premier League, good infrastructure and, in the bid's own words, the best commercial opportunities.
But the English press has been doggedly pursuing allegations of corruption within the game's governing body, reporting which FIFA and members of England's own bid team have criticized.
Ready to pick up the pieces is Russia. Although their bid report from FIFA faired less well, the Russian government has pledged billions of dollars to build new stadiums and infrastructure. A tournament in Russia would also open a huge, relatively untapped market for FIFA, which has awarded World Cups to South Africa in 2010 and Japan and South Korea in 2002 for similar reasons.
The favorites to host the 2022 World Cup are the USA. The tournament would help to cement soccer's growing popularity in America and build on the gains made when it lasted hosted the tournament in 1994, which broke World Cup attendance records.
If the USA bid fails, the bid with the most to gain comes from Australia. A superb 2000 Sydney Olympics, considered by the IOC as one of the best ever, proves that the Australians have experience in organizing successful international tournaments on this scale. The weather would be perfect too.
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