Excitement and disappointment as World Cup 2026 cities named

Children from the Massapequa youth soccer team wait for an announcement of host cities, at a 2026 FIFA World Cup host city selection watch party at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, N.J., Thursday, June 16, 2022. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)Cheers and sighs met FIFA’s announcement of the host cities for the 2026 World Cup.

There were a number of no-brainers among the 16 World Cup sites, like the Los Angeles area, Mexico City and Toronto. But for some of the cities that were on the bubble, Thursday’s big announcement was a dud.

At a watch party in Washington D.C., the crowd was sullen when the last of the cities was announced. It was just the third time that a nation’s capital has not been…