Grant Wahl, a highly regarded U.S. soccer journalist who wrote extensively on the game, died Friday in Qatar, where he was covering the World Cup quarterfinal match between Argentina and the Netherlands.

Wahl¡¯s agent, Tim Scanlan, confirmed the death in a phone interview Friday night. Scanlan said Wahl had been in the press tribune in the closing minutes of a quarterfinal game when he went into acute distress.

He is believed to have died, Scanlan said, at a hospital in Qatar or while he was being taken to one, after feeling unwell as the tournament proceeded.