Alan Sugar accuses Roy Keane of wearing a wig during England's World Cup win over Panama

Sir Alan Sugar turned heads on social media during England’s World Cup group-stage win over Panama, posting on X that ITV pundit Roy Keane appeared to be wearing a wig — a claim that quickly divided opinion online.

The former Tottenham chairman wrote: “Does anyone think the triangular section of hair on Roy Keane’s forehead is a wig as it looks a different colour?” The post drew a wide range of responses. Some users agreed with Sugar’s assessment — “Good shout mate I think you might be right” and “Yeah, that’s mad. I was thinking the exact same” — while others pushed back firmly. One user called it “a bad state of affairs” for a successful entrepreneur to be tweeting about a pundit’s hair, and a self-described barber offered a more clinical explanation: “It’s perfectly natural. It’s a natural, recession growth pattern for a man in his 50s — why ridicule someone for embracing a natural, life staging, growth period?”

Keane himself had been in typically forthright form during the broadcast, offering sharp analysis of England’s first-half struggles against a deep-sitting Panama defence. Those difficulties were ultimately overcome in the second half, with goals from Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham sealing the win and top spot in Group L for Thomas Tuchel’s side.

England’s group victory has set up a round-of-32 tie against DR Congo, with a favourable potential path through the knockout rounds that avoids Portugal, France and Spain in the early stages. A win over DR Congo could set up a last-16 meeting with either Mexico or Ecuador, with Brazil a possible quarter-final opponent should results go as expected.

Elsewhere in Group L, Croatia’s win over Ghana confirmed them as runners-up, while the Black Stars advanced as one of the eight best third-placed teams.