Journalist Grant Wahl suddenly collapsed and died while watching Argentina play the Netherlands in Qatar on Friday, December 9th, due to an aortic aneurysm rupturing. Wahl was 49 years old when he passed. Wahl’s wife Dr. Celine Gounder had an autopsy performed by the New York Medical Examiner’s office to determine that he died from “the rupture of a slowly growing, undetected ascending aortic aneurysm with hemopericardium.” The CDC says aortic aneurysms or dissections caused about 10,000 deaths in 2019, about 59% were among men. Aortic aneurysms are generally rare and difficult to spot. Another thing to point out is that Wahl said he was feeling unwell in the days before his death.

Wahl was a long-time college basketball and soccer reporter for Sports Illustrated had a newsletter called “Futbol with Grant Wahl”, and a podcast with Meadowlark Media. He covered soccer for more than two decades, including 11 World Cups. According to his website, he also authored many books on soccer including “The Beckham Experiment” and “Masters of Modern Soccer.” Wahl also worked for Fox Sports from 2012-2019 and was later hired by CBS in 2021 as an analyst and editorial consultant. Grant Wahl was also a brave human being.  While covering the World Cup in Qatar, he wore a rainbow-patterned T-shirt in support of the LGBTQ  and risked being detained – which he was for 25 minutes. Another example of Wahl being brave is that his last entry was about Qatar’s apathy towards the death of migrant laborers.

People carried on Wahl’s memory with a video tribute by Fox Sports at a stadium during public broadcasts. Grant Wahl will always be remembered as one of the greatest and bravest journalists who have ever lived.