Autopsy shows soccer writer Grant Wahl died of heart aneurysm at World Cup, wife says

The autopsy of American soccer writer Grant Wahl, who died while covering the World Cup in Qatar, died of a heart aneurysm, his wife said.

Wahl’s wife, Céline Gounder, said on Wednesday that an autopsy was conducted by the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office.

“Grant died from the rupture of a slowly growing, undetected ascending aortic aneurysm with hemopericardium,” she wrote on her husband’s website, referring to the wall that surrounds the heart.

“The chest pressure he experienced shortly before his death may have represented the initial symptoms.

Wahl, who was 49, was stricken in the media tribune of Lusail Iconic Stadium early on Saturday during extra time in Argentina’s quarterfinal match against the Netherlands.

Emergency workers immediately attended to him and treated him for 20 to 30 minutes before taking him away on a stretcher, reporters in his vicinity said.

His body was transported to New York.

“This transition was handled with the utmost care and sensitivity,” Dr. Gounder wrote.

“This was an international matter that required coordination from multiple agencies domestically and internationally, and there was full cooperation from everyone involved.

“Our sincere gratitude to everyone involved in repatriating Grant, in particular the White House, the US Department of State, FIFA, US Soccer and American Airlines.”

Wahl complained during the World Cup about feeling ill.

“My body finally broke down on me. Three weeks of little sleep, high stress and lots of work can do that to you,” Wahl wrote on December 5.

“What had been a cold over the last 10 days turned into something more severe on the night of the USA-Netherlands game, and I could feel my upper chest take on a new level of pressure and discomfort.”