Soccer journalist Grant Wahl died of heart aneurysm, autopsy shows

Grant Wahl died of an aneurysm in his heart when he was stricken while covering a World Cup match last weekend, according to an autopsy of the well-known American soccer writer.

Wahl's wife, Dr. Celine Gounder, said Wednesday that an autopsy was conducted by the New York City Medical Examiner's Office.

"Grant died from the rupture of a slowly growing, undetected ascending aortic aneurysm with hemopericardium," she wrote on her husband's website, referring to the wall that surrounds the heart. "The chest pressure he experienced shortly before his death may have represented the initial symptoms. No amount of CPR or shocks would have saved him. His death was unrelated to COVID. His death was unrelated to vaccination status. There was nothing nefarious about his death."

Wahl, who was 49, was stricken in the media tribune of Lusail Iconic Stadium in Qatar early Saturday during extra time in Argentina's quarter-final match against the Netherlands. Emergency workers immediately attended to him and treated him for 20 to 30 minutes before taking him away on a stretcher, reporters in his vicinity said.

On behalf of myself and our family, I want to express our deepest gratitude for the outpouring of support, love, and sympathy from around the world. Here is a message from our family and the latest update surrounding our beloved Grant:<a href="https://t.co/jPsggW6gfd">https://t.co/jPsggW6gfd</a>

His body was transported to New York.

Wahl had complained during the World Cup about feeling ill.

"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 on Dec. 5. "What had been a cold over the last 10 days turned into something more severe on the night of the