LUSAIL, Qatar — Grant Wahl, one of the most well-known soccer writers in the United States, died early Saturday (Friday PT) while covering the World Cup match between Argentina and the Netherlands. He was 49.
U.S. media members seated near him said Wahl fell back in his seat in the media tribune at Lusail Iconic Stadium during extra time and reporters adjacent to him called for assistance. Emergency services workers responded very quickly, the reporters said, and the reporters later were told that Wahl had died.
Wahl’s agent, Tim Scanlan, told the New York Times that Wahl is believed to have died at a hospital in Qatar or while he was being taken to one. The cause of death was not immediately available, but Scanlan confirmed that Wahl had felt unwell while dealing with a demanding schedule throughout the tournament.
“He wasn’t sleeping well, and I asked him if he tried melatonin or anything like,” Scanlan told the Times. “He said, ‘I just need to like relax for a bit.’”
During the game, Wahl was tweeting coverage of the proceedings. His last tweet was at 1:05 p.m. PT.
Wahl, who was running his own Substack after working for Sports Illustrated for more than 20 years, was covering his eighth World Cup. He wrote Monday that he had visited a medical clinic while in Qatar.
“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. “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.
“I didn’t have Covid (I test regularly here), but I went into the medical clinic at the main media center today, and they said I probably have bronchitis. They gave me a course of antibiotics and some heavy-duty cough syrup, and I’m already feeling a bit better just a few hours later. But still: No bueno.”
On his podcast Thursday, Wahl said he had a case of bronchitis and visited the medical clinic again.
“I basically canceled everything on this Thursday that I had, and napped and I’m doing slightly better that you can probably tell in my voice that I’m not at it at 100% here,” he said. “Hopefully I will not cough during this podcast. I’m coughing a lot. Everyone’s coughing here. This is by no means limited to me. So many journalists have got a crazy cough. It sounds like a death rattle sometimes.
“The only thing that’s surprising to me actually is there isn’t that much COVID Here I thought there might be a real issue with that. We’re not really seeing COVID cases. We’re just seeing a lot of general sickness, coughing, colds, and I can’t wait to be on the other side of what I have. But I am going to be ready to go I’m attending on Friday.”
During the World Cup, Wahl drew international attention after saying he was briefly stopped from attending the U.S. match against Wales on Nov. 21 over wearing a rainbow-colored T-shirt. Rainbow-colored armbands, shirts and other items have been a focus of attention during the tournament in part over Qatar’s stance on LGBTQ rights. Gay and lesbian sex is criminalized in Qatar, a conservative Muslim nation on the Arabian Peninsula. Wahl said FIFA later apologized to him over the incident.
Wahl wrote that security refused him entry and told him to remove the shirt. He wrote that he was detained for 25 minutes at Ahmed Bin Ali stadium in Al Rayyan, then was let go by a security commander. Wahl said FIFA apologized to him.
Wahl is from Mission, Kansas. A 1996 graduate of Princeton, he worked for Sports Illustrated from 1996 to 2020, known primarily for his coverage of soccer and college basketball. He was also a soccer correspondent and analyst for CBS Sports and Fox Sports (2012-2019) and authored “The Beckham Experiment,” a well-received book about David Beckham’s foray into U.S. soccer. It was the first New York Times Bestseller with soccer as the topic.
Wahl is survived by his wife, Dr. Celine Gounder, a clinical associate professor of medicine at New York University School of Medicine, attending physician at Bellevue Hospital Center and CBS News medical news contributor.
“I am so thankful for the support of my husband @GrantWahl’s soccer family & of so many friends who’ve reached out tonight,” Grounder wrote on Twitter. “I’m in complete shock.”
U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a tweet that the U.S. is “engaged with senior Qatari officials to see to it that his family’s wishes are fulfilled as expeditiously as possible.”
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Sports Illustrated released a statement through co-editors in chief Ryan Hunt and Stephen Cannella that said they were “shocked and devastated at the news of Grant’s passing.”
“We were proud to call him a colleague and friend for two decades – no writer in the history of SI has been more passionate about the sport he loved and the stories he wanted to tell,” the statement read. “Our hearts go out to Celine and his family, as well as everyone who loved his work. He will always be part of the SI family.”
U.S. Soccer released a statement on Wahl’s passing … saying, “The entire US Soccer family is heartbroken to learn that we have lost Grant Wahl.”
“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. As important, Grant’s belief in the power of the game to advance human rights was, and will remain, an inspiration to all.”
Wahl wrote that he had been among 82 journalists honored by FIFA and the international sports press association AIPS for attending eight or more World Cups.
News services contributed to this story.