WEEKLY WHINE

Football is coming home and going away

You may recall that last year, we reviewed the nations bidding to host the 2018 and 2022 Men’s World Cups. At that time, there were eleven bids to host the 2018 and 2022 Men’s World Cups, involving thirteen different nations. Since then, two nations have dropped out of the running, and the remaining nine bids, involving eleven different nations, have presented their supporting documents to FIFA, including which venues are proposed for use.

Nation[s]	2018	2022	Venues
Australia	¤	¤	12
England	¤	¤	17
Japan		¤	14
Korea Rep		¤	14
Netherlands/Belgium	¤	¤	14
Qatar		¤	5
Russia	¤	¤	14
Spain/Portugal	¤	¤	21
United States	¤	¤	18

We now reevaluate the nine remaining bids, including recommendations for which stadiums to drop [X] and which stadiums to allocate the opening [O], semifinal [S], third place [3], and final matches [F]. We conclude by rating the bids according to the quality of the venues, geographic distribution, travel infrastructure [including intracity, intercity, and international], accommodations infrastructure, security, and amount of preparatory work required. A score of four in each category is best.

Note that many of these bids include plans to expand some current stadiums. In such cases, the current capacity is shown first, followed by the planned capacity where available.

AUSTRALIA

Since our original evaluation, Australia have answered many questions about their bid, but still more have come up. For instance, other sport organisations in the country have shown an alarming disinterest and even resistance to the possibility of hosting the Men’s World Cup. Indeed, a highly suitable venue, Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, VIC, was not included in the proposal because of the Australian Football League’s refusal to yield the venue for the required two month period.

Rank	Match	City	Stadium	Constructed	Capacity
01	OF	Sydney, NSW	ANZ Stadium	1999	83,500
02	S3	Melbourne, VIC	Melbourne Cricket Ground	1853	100,000
03	S	Perth, WA	Perth Stadium**	N/A	60,000
04		Brisbane, QLD	Suncorp Stadium	2003	52,579
05		Adelaide, SA	Adelaide Oval	1871	33,597 » 48,000
06		Gold Coast, QLD	Gold Coast Stadium*	2011	25,000 » 40,000
07		Canberra, ACT	New Canberra Stadium**	N/A	40,000
08		Newcastle, NSW	EnergyAustralia Stadium	1970	26,164 » 42,000
09		Townsville, QLD	Dairy Farmers Stadium	1994	26,500 » 40,000
10		Sydney, NSW	Sydney Football Stadium	1988	45,500
11		Sydney, NSW	Blacktown Stadium**	N/A	41,000
12		Geelong, VIC	Skilled Stadium	1941	35,000 » 44,000
* Under construction
** Proposed

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ENGLAND

Since our original evaluation, England have made few changes other than simply narrowing down the list of candidate venues.

Rank	Match	City	Stadium	Constructed	Capacity
01	F	London	Wembley Stadium	2007	90,000
02	S	Manchester	Old Trafford	1910	76,098
03	O	Manchester	City of Manchester Stadium	2002	48,000 » 70,000
04	S	London	Emirates Stadium	2006	60,000
05	3	Liverpool	Stanley Park Stadium**	N/A	60,000
06		Newcastle	St James’ Park	2000	52,143 » 60,000
07		Leeds	Elland Road	1996	40,204 » 51,240
08		Nottingham	New Nottingham Forest Stadium**	N/A	50,000
09		Sunderland	Stadium of Light	2000	49,000
10		London	Tottenham Hotspur Stadium**	N/A	56,250
11		Sheffield	Hillsborough Stadium	1996	39,859 » 44,825
12		Birmingham	Villa Park	1897	43,275
13		Bristol	Bristol City Stadium**	N/A	42,000
14		Plymouth	Home Park	1893	19,500 » 46,000
15	X	Milton Keynes	Stadium MK	2007	22,000 » 43,044
16	X	London	Olympic Stadium*	2011	80,000
17	X	Liverpool	Anfield	1884	45,000
* Under construction
** Proposed

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JAPAN

Since our original evaluation, Japan have decided to bid only for the 2022 Men’s World Cup, which will be held twenty years after Japan successfully hosted the Men’s World Cup with Korea Rep. Japan have also indicated that a new Osaka Ecology Stadium is planned, but few details are available yet. Of these, Nissan Stadium, Saitama Stadium 2002, Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa, the Sapporo Dome, Ōita Big Eye Stadium, Nagai Stadium, Kashima Soccer Stadium, Niigata Stadium, and Home’s Stadium Kobe hosted Korea/Japan 2002 matches.

Rank	Match	City	Stadium	Constructed	Capacity
01	F	Yokohama	Nissan Stadium	1997	72,370
02	S	Saitama	Saitama Stadium 2002	2001	63,700
03	OS	Osaka	Osaka Ecology Stadium**	N/A	80,000
04	3	Shizuoka	Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa	2001	51,349
05		Sapporo	Sapporo Dome	2001	42,122
06		Ōita	Ōita Big Eye Stadium	2001	43,254
07		Toyota	Toyota Stadium	2001	45,000
08		Osaka	Nagai Stadium	1996	50,000
09		Kashima	Kashima Soccer Stadium	1991	41,800
10		Niigata	Niigata Stadium	2001	42,700
11		Tokyo	Olympic Stadium	1958	57,363
12		Tokyo	Ajinomoto Stadium	2000	50,000
13		Kobe	Kobe Universiade Memorial Stadium	1985	45,000
14		Kobe	Home’s Stadium Kobe	2001	30,000 » 42,000
** Proposed

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KOREA REP

Since our original evaluation, Korea Rep have revealed their final list of stadiums, including the new stadium being planned in Incheon for the 2014 Asian Games. One surprise was the exclusion of Ansan Wa Stadium in Ansan. Of the existing stadiums, all but Goyang Stadium, Olympic Stadium, and Cheonan Stadium hosted Korea/Japan 2002 matches.

Rank	Match	City	Stadium	Constructed	Capacity
01	F	Seoul	Sang-am Stadium	2001	64,677 » 82,756
02	OS	Daegu	Daegu Stadium	2001	68,014 » 81,422
03	S	Incheon	Incheon Asiad Stadium**	2012	70,000
04	3	Busan	Busan Asiad Stadium	2001	55,982 » 60,000
05		Gwangju	Guus Hiddink Stadium	2001	42,880 » 45,245
06		Incheon	Incheon Munhak Stadium	2001	52,179
07		Seogwipo	Jeju World Cup Stadium	2001	42,256 » 43,657
08		Suwon	Big Bird Stadium	2001	44,047
09		Goyang	Goyang Stadium	2003	43,131
10		Jeonju	Jeonju Castle	2001	42,477
11		Daejeon	Purple Arena	2001	42,176
12		Ulsan	Big Crown Stadium	2001	43,550
13		Cheonan	Cheonan Baekseok Stadium	2001	32,000 » 45,000
14		Seoul	Olympic Stadium	1984	69,841
** Proposed

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NETHERLANDS/BELGIUM

Since our original evaluation, Netherlands/Belgium have confirmed that a total of fourteen stadiums will be involved, including two each in Amsterdam and Rotterdam. All, except possibly De Kuip, require some construction work.

Rank	Match	City	Stadium	Constructed	Capacity
01	F	Rotterdam, NED	De Niew Kuip**	N/A	80,000
02	S	Amsterdam, NED	Amsterdam ArenA	1996	51,324 » 65,000
03	OS	Brussels, BEL	[new stadium]**	N/A	65,000
04		Rotterdam, NED	De Kuip	1937	51,180
05		Eindhoven, NED	Philips Stadion	1913	36,500 » 44,000
06	3	Gent, BEL	Arteveldestadion*	2011	20,000 » 40,000
07		Heerenveen, NED	Abe Lenstra Stadion	1993	26,000 » 44,000
08		Enschede, NED	De Grolsch Veste	1998	24,244 » 44,000
09		Genk, BEL	Cristal Arena	1999	24,604 » 45,000
10		Amsterdam, NED	Olympisch Stadion	1926	22,000 » 44,000
11		Brugge, BEL	[new stadium]**	N/A	40,000
12		Antwerp, BEL	[new stadium]**	N/A	25,000 » 45,000
13		Charleroi, BEL	[new stadium]**	N/A	40,000
14		Liège, BEL	[new stadium]**	N/A	40,000
* Under construction
** Proposed

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QATAR

Since our original evaluation, Qatar have revealed details of five planned match venues, all of which are designed for carbon neutrality. They will use solar power to operate air conditioning, but on off days, the solar panels will provide power to the grid, which officials argue makes the stadiums carbon neutral. Qatar also have an interesting plan for reducing the stadium sizes after the tournament is over: the upper decks will be removed and sent to developing nations to help them improve their facilities. However, the largest factor working against Qatar is that none of these stadiums will have capacities of 80,000 or higher, as needed for the opening and final matches.

Rank	Match	City	Stadium	Constructed	Capacity
01	OF	Al-Rayyan	Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium	2003	21,282 » 44,740
02	S	Al-Gharafa	Al-Gharafa Stadium	2003	21,175 » 44,740
03	S	Al-Khor	Al-Khor Stadium**	N/A	45,330
04	3	Al-Shamal	Al-Shamal Stadium**	N/A	45,120
05		Al-Wakrah	Al-Wakrah Stadium**	N/A	45,120
** Proposed

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RUSSIA

Since our original evaluation, Russia have identified the locations in which matches are to be held. Unfortunately for them, they have not made public the details of the stadiums that are to be built. Here is the most current information that we can find.

Rank	Match	City	Stadium	Constructed	Capacity
01	OF	Moscow	Luzhniki Stadion	1956	84,745
02	S	St Petersburg	[new stadium]**	N/A	62,000
03	S	Sochi	Olympic Stadium*	2012	45,000
04	3	Kazan	[new stadium]**	N/A	45,000
05		Moscow	[new stadium]**	N/A	N/A
06		Kaliningrad	[new stadium]**	N/A	N/A
07		Nizhny Novgorod	[new stadium]**	N/A	40,000
08		Yekaterinburg	[new stadium]**	N/A	N/A
09		Saransk	[new stadium]**	N/A	N/A
10		Rostov-on-Don	[new stadium]**	N/A	N/A
11		Samara	[new stadium]**	N/A	N/A
12		Volgograd	[new stadium]**	N/A	N/A
13		Krasnodar	[new stadium]**	N/A	N/A
14		Yaroslavl	[new stadium]**	N/A	N/A
* Under construction
** Proposed

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SPAIN/PORTUGAL

Since our original evaluation, Spain/Portugal have proposed a list of twenty one possible venues, including only three in Portugal. We are concerned that these nations have not credited Portugal’s recent success in hosting Euro 2004.

Rank	Match	City	Stadium	Constructed	Capacity
01	F	Madrid, ESP	Estadio Santiago Bernabéu	1947	80,354
02	S	Barcelona, ESP	Camp Nou	1957	98,934
03	OS	Lisbon, POR	Estádio da Luz	2003	65,647
04	3	Valencia, ESP	Nou Mestalla*	2010	82,000
05		Bilbao, ESP	San Mames Barria**	2012	58,000
06		Lisbon, POR	Estádio José Alvalade	2003	50,300
07		Porto, POR	Estádio do Dragão	2003	50,106
08		Zaragoza, ESP	Estadio de San José**	2012	43,000
09		Sevilla, ESP	Estadio de la Cartuja	1999	72,000
10		Vigo, ESP	Estadio Balaidos	1928	31,800 » 42,381
11		Valladolid, ESP	Estadio José Zorrilla	1982	26,512 » 40,000
12		Barcelona, ESP	Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys	1927	55,926
13		Madrid, ESP	Estadio La Peineta	1994	73,000
14		A Coruña, ESP	Estadio Riazor	1945	35,800
15		Murcia, ESP	Estadio Nueva Condomina	2006	33,045
16		Málaga, ESP	Estadio La Rosaleda	1942	33,000
17	X	San Sebastián, ESP	Estadio Anoeta	1993	32,000
18	X	Alicante, ESP	[new stadium]**	N/A	30,000
19	X	Gijón, ESP	Estadio El Molinón	1917	25,885
20	X	Santander, ESP	Estadio El Sardinero	1988	22,400
21	X	Badajoz, ESP	[new stadium]**	N/A	45,000
* Under construction
** Proposed

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UNITED STATES

Since our original evaluation, the United States have downselected to a final list of twenty one venues in eighteen cities. One major surprise is the exclusion of Soldier Field in Chicago, IL, which we had ranked in fourth place.

Rank	Match	City	Stadium	Constructed	Capacity
01	F	Los Angeles, CA	Rose Bowl	1922	92,542
02	O	New York City, NY	Meadowlands Stadium	2010	82,500
03	S	Washington, DC	FedEx Field	1997	91,665
04	S	Dallas, TX	Cowboys Stadium	2009	80,000
05		Boston, MA	Gillette Stadium	2002	68,756
06	3	Seattle, WA	Qwest Field	2002	67,000
07		Phoenix, AZ	University of Phoenix Stadium	2006	63,400
08		Houston, TX	Reliant Stadium	2002	71,054
09		Philadelphia, PA	Lincoln Financial Field	2003	68,532
10		Baltimore, MD	M&T Bank Stadium	1998	69,084
11		Miami, FL	Sun Life Stadium	1987	75,540
12		Nashville, TN	LP Field	1999	68,932
13		Kansas City, MO	Arrowhead Stadium	1972	79,451
14		Indianapolis, IN	Lucas Oil Stadium	2008	70,000
15	X	Denver, CO	Invesco Field	2001	76,125
16	X	San Diego, CA	Qualcomm Stadium	1967	71,294
17	X	Tampa, FL	Raymond James Stadium	1998	65,647
18	X	Seattle, WA	Husky Stadium	1920	72,500
19	X	Dallas, TX	Cotton Bowl	1932	92,200
20	X	Los Angeles, CA	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	1923	63,607
21	X	Atlanta, GA	Georgia Dome	1992	71,149

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OVERALL EVALUATION

It is clear that these bids have put in a great amount of preparation since our last evaluation. We are confident that any of these nations would be capable of organising an extremely successful Men’s World Cup.

Nation[s]	Venues	Geography	Travel	Accommodations	Security	Preparation	Total
England	4	4	4	3	3	3	21
Spain/Portugal	4	3	4	4	3	3	21
United States	4	4	3	4	2	4	21
Korea Rep	3	4	4	3	4	1	19
Netherlands/Belgium	3	4	4	4	3	1	19
Japan	2	2	4	3	4	1	16
Australia	2	3	4	2	3	0	14
Qatar	0	2	4	3	2	0	11
Russia	1	2	2	2	1	0	8

The total scores leave us with a three way tie amongst England, Spain/Portugal, and the United States. One factor to note is that the Americas are hosting the 2014 Men’s World Cup in Brazil, and so we will exclude the United States from consideration in 2018. We then have a very difficult decision between Spain/Portugal and England for 2018, which we resolve by noting that Spain hosted the Men’s World Cup in 1982, whereas England will have had a wait of more than fifty years from its previous hosting experience. We therefore award the 2018 Men’s World Cup to England and the 2022 Men’s World Cup to the United States. We look forward to seeing you at each of these tournaments.