Why not let Texas host its own World Cup?
Sure, that's probably something that not even FIFA would dare to do — would they? — but as Reddit user LacticThreshold points out with a list of 10 host cities, a dozen stadiums and a whole slew of population figures, why the heck not?
It wouldn't even be the craziest decision made by FIFA this decade.
The state of Texas was home to 26.06 million people in 2012, according to official United States Census Bureau numbers.
Nation-wide populations of countries recently bidding to host World Cups:
Australia (22.7 million), South Korea (50 million), Belgium and the Netherlands (27.9 million, joint bid), England (53 million), Spain and Portugal (57.8 million, joint bid) and, of course, 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar (2 million, 13 times fewer than Texas).
Furthermore, the stadium infrastructure that Texas could provide — because they love their football — puts everyone, including the mighty Brazil, to shame.
Average capacity crowd of the 12 stadiums selected to host 2014 World Cup matches in Brazil: 55,601. Average capacity crowd of the 12 stadiums proposed to host 2026 World Cup matches in Texas: 69,427.
If nothing else, the Texas World Cup proposal serves as a fun reminder of two things: 1) that the state of Texas is bigger than a number of world's top soccer nations, and 2) how many 45,000-plus and 75,000-plus-seat stadiums the state has.
Come on, FIFA, you put a World Cup in Qatar. Now, do the right thing and put a World Cup in Texas. At this point, you might as well.
