National Soccer Hall of Fame Announces Incredible Honor for Grant Wahl

Editor’s note, May 8 at 9:15 p.m. ET: The original version of this story incorrectly stated Grant Wahl was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame. The story has been updated to reflect the news of the NSHOF honoring the journalist with the Colin Jose Award.

The National Soccer Hall of Fame announced a special honor on Saturday in recognition of the incredible career of renowned soccer journalist and former Sports Illustrated senior writer Grant Wahl, who died unexpectedly at age 49 in December.

Wahl, a member of SI’s staff from 1996 to 2021, was posthumously honored by the NSHOF as the recipient of the ’23 Colin Jose Media Award. According to the organization’s official website, the esteemed award, named after the Hall’s historian emeritus, “honors journalists whose careers have made significant long-term contributions to soccer in the United States.”

“He dedicated his life to growing the game and left an indelible legacy on American soccer,” the NSHOF said of Wahl in a tweet announcing the news.

Saturday’s news comes nearly five months after Wahl’s sudden death during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The beloved reporter collapsed on Dec. 10 while covering the World Cup quarterfinal between Argentina and the Netherlands; it was later determined via an autopsy that Wahl died from an undetected aortic aneurysm.

Widely praised for his contributions to the “beautiful game,” Wahl was remembered in countless tributes throughout the sports world in the aftermath of his death. In addition to his work at SI, Wahl also worked for CBS and Fox, and wrote the books The Beckham Experiment and Masters of Modern Soccer.