DOHA, Qatar—Journalist Grant Wahl, one of the most prominent chroniclers of American soccer for more than 20 years and a longtime writer for Sports Illustrated, died on Friday night while covering the World Cup in Qatar. He was 48.
Mr. Wahl was at the quarterfinal match between Argentina and the Netherlands in Lusail, north of Doha, when he suffered what medics at the scene called a cardiac arrest. His death was confirmed by the US Soccer Federation in a statement on social media.
Over nearly three decades as a journalist, Mr. Wahl chronicled an era of men’s and women’s American soccer, dating back to the early 1990s, before the formation of Major League Soccer or a top-tier women’s professional league.
“The entire US Soccer family is heartbroken to learn that we have lost Grant Wahl,” the federation said. “Here in the United States, Grant’s passion for soccer and commitment to elevating its profile across our sporting landscape played a major role in helping to drive interest in and respect for our beautiful game.”
FIFA president Gianni Infantino issued a statement saying Wahl’s “love for football was immense and his reporting will be missed by all who follow the global game.”
Mr. Wahl covered the 1994 World Cup, which was held in the US, shortly after graduating from Princeton. In 1996, he joined Sports Illustrated to cover soccer and college basketball. In 2002, he wrote the magazine’s first cover story on a high-school basketball player out of Akron, Ohio, who seemed bound for stardom. His name was LeBron James.
Mr. Wahl’s 24 years at the magazine, which ended in 2020, coincided with the rise of the US women’s national team as a global powerhouse; the US men’s team’s run to the quarterfinals of the 2002 World Cup; and the arrival of a string of superstars in MLS. David Beckham’s 2006 move to the Los Angeles Galaxy became the subject of his first book, “The Beckham Experiment,” which was a New York Times bestseller.
“I am so thankful for the support of my husband @GrantWahl’s soccer family & so many friends who’ve reached out tonight,” his wife Celine Gounder tweeted from her verified account. “I’m in complete shock.”
Grant Wahl was at a match between Argentina and the Netherlands when he suffered what medics at the scene called a cardiac arrest.
Photo:
Michael Loccisano/Getty Images
Mr. Wahl was also an advocate for women’s soccer and spent years covering the US women’s national team pay discrimination lawsuit against the national federation.
In Qatar, where he was attending his eighth men’s World Cup, Mr. Wahl was vocal about the country’s laws banning homosexuality as it prepared to host the world’s largest sporting event. On his way to the US men’s team opening match against Wales here on Nov. 21, Mr. Wahl said he was detained upon entering the stadium for wearing a T-shirt that featured a rainbow design and refusing to change out of it. Mr. Wahl was allowed inside to cover the game after around 30 minutes and FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, later apologized for the incident.
“Grant’s belief in the power of the game to advance human rights was, and will remain, an inspiration to all,” US Soccer said.
Write to Joshua Robinson at [email protected] and Jonathan Clegg at [email protected]
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