Steven Goff Selected as 2026 Colin Jose Media Award Winner
Former Washington Post Reporter Covered 14 World Cups, Every MLS Season Across Four Decades
FRISCO, Texas (March. 12, 2026) — Steven Goff has been voted the recipient of the 2026 Colin Jose Media Award, which honors journalists whose careers have made significant long-term contributions to soccer in the United States.
Goff, 59, joined Yahoo Sports in October 2025 after spending 40 years at The Washington Post. His career chronicling American soccer is one of the longest and most impactful in the sport’s history, highlighted by his coverage of 14 World Cups (eight men’s and six women’s) since 1994.
Goff set lofty standards in both quality and consistency and helped turn The Post into one of American soccer’s most dedicated and reliable sources for breaking news, features, profiles and analysis. Goff regularly covered both the men’s and women’s U.S. National Teams, as well as MLS, the NWSL, college soccer and more.
“Steven Goff is one of the most outstanding soccer journalists I’ve had the opportunity to work with over the past 40-plus years,” said Bruce Arena, a 2010 Hall of Fame inductee who has coached the U.S. Men’s National Team and five MLS clubs. “He has a great understanding of the game, and his reporting is honest, thorough and insightful. Steve has been a leader in covering soccer in the United States and serves as a great example for those who aspire to be reporters at the highest level.
“He is truly a worthy recipient of the Colin Jose Media Award.”
The popularity and resonance of his writing spurred Washington Post editors to treat soccer as a major sport and invest in its coverage. The paper routinely sent additional writers to World Cups and other major events, while Goff mentored several younger reporters who went on to enjoy lengthy careers.
Hailing from Keene, N.H., Goff graduated from American University in 1988 and began his Post career as a news aide, copy editor and part-time writer. In addition to the 14 World Cups, he covered D.C. United as a daily beat — home and away — for all 30 MLS seasons from 1996 through 2025. His unparalleled clip file also includes coverage of approximately 350 USMNT and USWNT matches (including 99 men’s World Cup qualifiers), as well as the Olympics, 25 MLS Cups, five NWSL Championships and 20 NCAA College Cups (17 men and three women). He has reported from 30 countries and earned honors from the Associated Press Sports Editors on multiple occasions.
The National Soccer Hall of Fame will honor Goff on May 1 at its induction ceremony in Frisco, Texas. The ceremony also will feature the induction of the Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026: Kevin Crow, Tobin Heath, Heather O’Reilly, Tony Sanneh, Kari Seitz and Chris Wondolowski. Goff also will be joined by ESPN’s Bob Ley, who was unable to attend the 2025 ceremony after being voted last year’s recipient of the Colin Jose Media Award.
The Colin Jose Media Award was created to honor the contributions of members of the print and electronic media, including reporters, columnists, authors, broadcasters, editors, public/media relations professionals and others who specialize in communications with respect to soccer in the United States.
The award is named for Colin Jose, the preeminent soccer historian of North America who was the Hall of Fame’s historian from 1997 to 2007.
COLIN JOSE MEDIA AWARD RECIPIENTS
2026 — Steven Goff, Yahoo Sports and The Washington Post
2025 — Bob Ley, ESPN
2024 — Amy Rosenfeld, ESPN, NBC Sports and other television broadcasters
2023 — Grant Wahl, Sports Illustrated, Fox Sports, CBS Sports, Fùtbol with Grant Wahl
2020 — Andrés Cantor, Telemundo Deportes and other television broadcasters
2019 — Tony Quinn, Photojournalist
2018 — JP Dellacamera, FOX and other television broadcasters
2017 — Jim Trecker, Media Relations
2016 — Paul Kennedy, Soccer America
2013 — George Vecsey, New York Times
2012 — Grahame Jones, Los Angeles Times
2010 — Paul Gardner, Soccer America
2009 — Alex Yannis, New York Times
2008 — Ike Kuhns, Newark Star-Ledger
2007 — George Tiedemann, Sports Illustrated/Freelance Photography
2005 — Seamus Malin, ESPN and other television broadcasters
2004 — Jerry Trecker, Hartford Courant