The U.S. Soccer Association will honor the late Grant Wall at every men’s and women’s national team game through the 2026 World Cup, ahead of the USMNT’s friendly against Serbia at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. It was announced Wednesday that it would be confirmed.
“To honor Grant in his first game since the World Cup, we will have a ‘WAHL’ jersey in the empty seat in the press box, along with a framed photo and flowers. ” US soccer wrote on Twitter“From now until the 2026 World Cup, Grant’s seat will always be vacant at every USMNT and USWNT home match.”
Wall collapsed and died on December 9 while covering the World Cup quarter-final match between Argentina and the Netherlands at Lusail Stadium in Qatar. he was 49 years old.
An autopsy performed by the New York City coroner’s office revealed that Wall died of an aortic aneurysm.
“It’s just one of many things that could have been happening for years,” said Wall’s wife Celine Gownder, an infectious disease expert and an epidemiologist at New York University. “And for some reason, at this point it happened.
“Grant died from the rupture of a slowly growing, undetected ascending aortic aneurysm with pericardial hemorrhage. The chest compressions he experienced shortly before his death may have represented an early symptom. No law or electric shock could have saved him.”
Wahl covered football and college basketball for Sports Illustrated from 1996 to 2021 before launching his own Substack website to continue covering football. He also appeared on Fox Sports and his CBS broadcast. Wall authored the book “The Beckham Experiment” in 2009 about David Beckham’s major league football move to Los Angeles and his Galaxy, and “Masters of Modern Soccer” in 2018. Wall is also famous for writing his story on the cover of his Illustrated Sports in 2002 about high school basketball. The genius of LeBron James.
On Wednesday, Wall was also named a recipient of the United States Soccer Hall of Fame’s Colin Jose Media Award. Ru.
Contributed by Scooby Axson, USA TODAY; Associated Press
