South Korea has lost its bid to host the World Cup after FIFA awarded the hosting rights for the 2022 tournament to Qatar.

During the voting process for the world soccer’s governing body in Zurich on Thursday, South Korea fell out of the running in the third round of voting. Australia was out after the first round and Japan fell in the second round.

Qatar garnered 14 votes, outperforming the U.S., which had eight votes, in the final round of balloting. In doing so, Qatar will become the first Middle Eastern country to host the soccer event.

Observers said Qatar won the bid to host the World Cup by expressing determination to ease tensions between Israel and other Middle Eastern countries with the soccer event.

Also on Thursday, Russia was picked to host the 2018 World Cup.