KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The biggest event in global soccer has found its way to Kansas City, Missouri, the hometown of one of the biggest advocates for the sport in the United States.
The late soccer journalist Grant Wahl grew up in Mission, Kansas, a small suburb southwest of Kansas City. He would go on to become one of the highest regarded writers in any sport, spending 25 years at Sports Illustrated and elsewhere; his coverage is widely credited with growing the sport in the U.S.
Wahl moved to the East Coast as an adult, but kept close ties to Kansas City, including a love for the Chiefs.
In 2022, Wahl died at age 49 in Qatar while covering the World Cup for his own website.
“The World Cup is something I never in a million years imagined would happen here,” Eric Wahl, Grant’s older brother, tells Front Office Sports. “And it sucks tremendously that Grant is not here to comment on it, to enjoy it.”
