Is there any connection between the country of origin of Popes and nearby large gatherings of Catholics or Councils? Not that a run of 2 means anything (or Rio is in Argentina like I mistakenly assumed It is just down the road) and given there were hundreds of years of Italian popes to skew this statistic, but it seems like Pope Francis and Pope Benedict XVI being elected months prior to World Youth Days nearby their countries of origin is not a complete coincidence. 

Maybe it is, but just to dispel any possible conspiracies, has there ever been a precedent of electing a Pope to draw attention to an event upon the Pope's "homecoming"?
No. Because until St John-Paul II, few popes traveled, and those that did, didn't travel much. There was no expectation of a Pope's homecoming, in the sense of the Pope returning to his country of origin.