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From Kylian Mbappé’s World Cup style to Erling Haaland’s hair tie, football has had many viral fashion moments in 2026.
Perhaps the one that speaks to the fashion crowd, and a larger debate happening in menswear right now, is Gary Neville being mercilessly teased on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football for sporting wide-legged trousers.
As a producer played Baggy Trousers, by Madness, Neville’s chino-style, wider-legged black slacks were mocked by fellow pundit Jamie Carragher, who compared Neville to Frank Worthington, the forward from West Yorkshire whose dandyish off-pitch style raised eyebrows in the 1970s.
“I went shopping in London,” Neville explained as Carragher jogged along to the Nutty Boys’ hit. “This guy styled me. I think they’re pretty cool, you know.” He predicted that Carragher would be wearing a pair soon.
Neville seems to be on to something. Because as far as the cut of your trousers goes, girth is greater.
Nick Pope, the site director at Esquire, said: “In terms of what people are actually wearing on the street, it is the wider silhouette.” Retailers from Cos to Next and Marks and Spencer are going great guns selling wider-fitting trousers in the menswear aisle.
The width currently in style can’t quite be described as “baggy trousers”, however. Pope said what Neville wore was a relaxed 90s fit for today, like the trousers seen on A$AP Rocky at the Tribeca festival in New York City in June.
The silhouette dominated men’s fashion week for autumn/winter 2026-27 among designers including Dior, Prada and Saint Laurent. On the red carpet, the style has been seen on fashion magnets such as Connor Storrie (at the Golden Globes) and Joe Alwyn (at the Baftas).
The classic football pundit dress code grew out of newsreader style: a suit and tie. It was a safe option for the footballer turned television presenter who could not show up wearing their home kit. But Neville and fellow presenter Jamie Redknapp donning a wider leg on Sky Sports speaks to a moment where TV dress codes are morphing.
James Andrew, the editor of FourFourTwo, a football magazine, said: “It’s more relaxed now.”
Pope added: “I think punditry is becoming more fashion forward in the sense that they’re wearing knitted polos and chinos. But it’s still very tonal and sensible.”
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Paul Monks, who dresses the pundits for Sky Sports, including Monday Night Football, said he believed the clothes should echo the easygoing feel of the show and its audience.
“We want what we do on screen to feel relevant to the viewer,” he said. “The way people dress generally has become more relaxed. You see far fewer men wearing suits day to day now, so it wouldn’t make sense for television to become more stiff or overly formal.”
The wardrobes of pundits, as well as the England star Jude Bellingham and managers such as Pep Guardiola, have started to have an impact on everyday style.
Pope said: “They’ve become these unlikely style influencers for middle-aged men. Someone like Gary Neville is probably quite aware of that.”
The viral incident illustrated Neville’s growing interest in fashion: he has a clothing collection with Hawes & Curtis.
Corina Gaffey, a stylist, said: “Gary seems receptive to switching up his on screen style, trying different brands, silhouettes and cuts. He’s obviously in tune with fashion and interested in it.”
Pope predicted there would be more collaborations between footballing and fashion. “I think we’re going to see more pundits with their own lines,” he said.
One-nil to wider leg trousers, then.
