In a shocking letdown for soccer fans in Washington and across the country, FIFA announced this morning that the 2022 World Cup would be awarded to Qatar. In another surprise, Russia will host the 2018 tournament. The United States, with its overwhelming number of large soccer-ready stadia and immense success hosting the 1994 tournament, was considered by many to be heavy favorites. Washington would have hosted as many as seven matches during the tournament, likely at FedEx Field. (Apparently, Councilmember Harry Thomas’ appearance at the Newseum this morning didn’t bring the U.S. bid much luck.) As a huge soccer fan, this DCist editor is really bummed out about the fact that he won’t be able to hop on the Orange Line to go see a World Cup match in twelve years, but I guess it could be worse — we could be England, who basically invented the modern game and was, yet again, snubbed for hosting duties despite having not held a World Cup in the country since 1966.