The United States’ big dreams of hosting the 2022 World Cup were shattered by one of the planet’s smallest nations.

In a historic vote Thursday in Zurich, FIFA awarded the hosting rights to Qatar, a Middle Eastern country smaller than Connecticut that wowed the sport’s international governing body with innovative stadium plans, massive financial resources and the promise of promoting harmony in a region that has never staged the World Cup.

Australia, Japan and South Korea were the other finalists.

The United States was hoping to host the world’s most popular competition for the first time since 1994, when it set attendance records and helped popularize a sport that, until that summer, had only a niche following.

“There’s no way around it: I am disappointed,” U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati said. “Millions of U.S. soccer fans worked hard to bring the World Cup to our country. To come up short is very difficult to take.”