Wahl to be honored by U.S. Soccer for lifetime contributions

The late Grant Wahl will be honored with this year’s Colin Jose Media Award – given to journalists who have made long-term contributions to football in the United States – and will have a seat reserved for him in the press box for all US home men and women’s football through for the 2026 World Cup.

Wahl died on December 10, aged 49, after collapsing while covering the World Cup quarter-final between Argentina and the Netherlands in Lusail, Qatar.

– Echegaray: A tribute to Grant Wahl and his legacy

Wahl will be honored May 6 at the induction into the US National Soccer Hall of Fame in Frisco, Texas, the hall announced Wednesday. Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley, Lauren Cheney Holiday, Kate Sobrero Markgraf, former US women’s coach Jill Ellis and Steve Zungul are introduced to the room.

The National Soccer Hall of Fame tweeted, “He dedicated his life to growing the game and left an indelible legacy in American soccer. Grant Wahl has been named a 2023 recipient of the Colin Jose Media Award.”

In addition, US Soccer announced that it would be granted a spot with an election jersey and flowers in the press box for all US men’s and women’s home games ahead of the 2026 World Cup in North America, beginning with Wednesday’s USMNT game against Serbia Will be made available in Los Angeles.

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— Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) January 26, 2023

Wahl worked for Sports Illustrated from 1996 to 2021, covering football and college basketball, before launching his own website. He has also worked for Fox and CBS and has written The Beckham Experiment, about England star David Beckham’s move to LA Galaxy in Major League Soccer, and Masters of Modern Soccer.

A New York coroner’s autopsy found Wahl died of an aortic aneurysm.

First presented in 2004, the award is named after Hall’s historian emeritus.