Micah Richards found out his father died 'not long' before he went on air for England vs Argentina

BBC pundit Micah Richards found out his dad had passed away ‘not long’ before going on air to cover the England versus Argentina match.

The 38-year-old former England defender has worked as a pundit since his retirement from professional football and has been a familiar face for fans throughout the World Cup.

He covered tonight’s clash in Atlanta between the Three Lions and Argentina, which saw England dumped out of the competition following a 2-1 defeat.

On screen Richards was the perfect professional pundit, chipping in with his thoughts about the game, Thomas Tuchel’s tactics and the crushing late defeat.

But he’s now revealed that he was dealing with a heartbreaking personal tragedy following the ‘unexpected’ death of his dad Lincoln just before going live on air.

Micah Richards was told his dad had passed away 'not long' before going on air (Visionhaus/Getty Images)

Taking to Instagram shortly after the match ended, Richards paid a touching tribute to his dad and ‘greatest fan’.

Micah shared a childhood photo of himself with his dad and wrote: “Not long before going on air today, I received the awful news that my father Lincoln had passed away. His death was unexpected, and he has left us all too soon.

“He was my greatest fan. He barely missed a game my entire life. He would take me wherever I needed to go when I was a kid and he was the proudest parent possible during my professional career. It was so rare for him to not be by my side.”

He went on to say that his dad would have wanted ‘the show to go on’ as he knew how much England meant to those watching at home.

He continued: “I know how much watching England World Cup games means to everyone at home, and how the experience bonds families together across the generations, like nothing else. I know, particularly as a proud old-school Yorkshireman, dad would’ve wanted the show to go on this evening. And so it did.

“Thinking of my siblings and all my wider family today as we remember my father Lincoln, my hero and inspiration.”

Fellow pundits and footballers have replied to the post sending their condolences, including Jill Scott who wrote: “Thinking of you and your family Mica” and Joe Hart who posted: “Sending love Meeks … here for you all. RIP Lincoln”.

He shared a touching tribute to his dad and 'greatest fan' on Instagram (Instagram/@micahrichards)

"Sorry for your loss Micah," commented Juan Mata.

Jamie Carragher, who works with Micah, wrote: “Sending love to you & all the family.”

Fans have also sent their condolences and praised Richards for going out and presenting despite what happened.

“Well done for coming out and presenting tonight, not an easy thing to do. Thoughts with your family,” one fan wrote.

A second said: “Held it down on punditry despite this… some soldier you are Micah. Thoughts and prayers with you and your family.”

Richards’s professional football career started in 2005 when he joined Manchester City, the following year he became the youngest defender to be selected by England.

Between 2006 and 2012, he earned 13 caps for England before retiring in 2019.

Since then he’s carved out an impressive post-retirement punditry career.

As well as working for the BBC, Richards also appears on Sky Sports and is one of the hosts of the popular The Rest is Football podcast alongside former BBC pundit Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer.