Bill Clinton and Morgan Freeman, try as they might, couldn’t deliver a World Cup for America.

The pair pitched the United States’ bid to host a World Cup in America in 2022. America finished runner-up to Qatar in a vote by 22 members of the FIFA Executive Committee.

Qatar won by a final vote of 14-8 in the final round of voting (it took three rounds to whittle the field to the two candidates).

Qatar will be the smallest host in World Cup history, at a size smaller than Connecticut.

Concerns have been raised about the potential for desert heat in the Middle East country, as World Cup games are played during the summer.

Qatar has said it plans to have air-conditioned stadiums and facilities to cool both players and fans.

The other candidates were Australia (finished in fifth place), Japan (fourth place) and Korea Republic (third place).

Russia was awarded the 2018 World Cup.

“For 2018 and 2022 we go to new lands, because the FIFA World Cup has never been in Eastern Europe or the Middle East,” said FIFA President Joseph Blatter.

America last hosted a World Cup in 1994, and hoped the country’s top-16 finish in the 2010 World Cup — and the nation’s support of the team — would bolster its bid.