American soccer fans can look forward to another 12 years of watching the World Cup in bars at weird hours.
The 2018 soccer tournament will be played in Russia, and the 2022 games in Qatar, FIFA, which oversees World Cup, announced Thursday.
FIFA brushed off a high-profile American campaign for the games that included President Obama, former President Clinton, and Oscar-winner Morgan Freeman. Prince William campaigned for soccer-mad England.
Qatar, which has never qualified for the World Cup, is the first Middle Eastern country to get the games. The U.S. hosted in 1994, and Brazil, as previously announced, will host in 2014.
The locations announced Wednesday mean Americans, who have embraced soccer far less than the rest of the world, won't be lured to the sport by the chance to attend games in their home country.
Still, domestic interest in soccer is growing: Viewership in the U.S. was up 41 percent for this year's World Cup final, in which Spain beat the Netherlands in Johannesburg. The game drew an estimated 700 million viewers worldwide, with 15.5 million viewers watching on ABC and 8.8 million watching on Univision.
Of course, location isn't the only factor in Americans' interest: a well-performing U.S. team doesn't hurt either. About 14.8 million viewers tuned in for the United States' second-round overtime loss to Ghana in June.
