Gary Lineker opens up on THAT infamous moment he soiled himself on the pitch during Italia 90

Gary Lineker has revealed all about how he soiled himself on the pitch while playing for England during the 1990 World Cup.

The former Three Lions striker suffered the embarrassment in England’s opening game of the tournament with the Republic of Ireland – a game in which he had opened the scoring during the first half.

Lineker enjoyed an illustrious international career as he netted 48 times in 80 games, but despite his impressive exploits, he is still regularly reminded of the infamous soiling incident.

Speaking on a Match of the Day: Top 10 podcast, the TV presenter was pressed on the story by his colleagues Micah Richards and Alan Shearer.

‘I’d not been very well the night before,’ Lineker recalled.

Gary Lineker has recalled the moment he soild himself on the pitch during the 1990 World Cup

Lineker revealed all during a chat with Micah Richards and Alan Shearer on MOTD Top 10

‘But I didn’t tell anyone because I wanted to play. 15 minutes in the second half I start cramping and I think “oh christ I’m in a s*** load of pain here”.’

He continued: ‘The ball goes out on their left hands side and I kind of did a lunge at it and as I did that I kind of relaxed.

‘And it’s just gone BOOF and I’ve gone “Oh my God”. And I’m sat there on the ground  and it’s all there.’

Richards interjected: ‘This is one of the best stories you’ve ever told,’ before Lineker continued: ‘Shut up! You can see me look up and Gary Stevens comes over and I remember him going “Links what’s wrong”.

‘And I went “I’ve s*** myself”. I felt like crying. Thank God we had the dark blue shorts on and not the white ones.’

Lineker – who was subbed off for Steve Bull soon after the incident – added: ‘It was horrible at the time but it’s obviously funny now.’

Shearer then joked: ‘So we’ve got two minutes left (of the show) to talk about Premier League hat-tricks. We’ve had to listen to 10 minutes about how Lineker s*** himself.’

The moment happened when Lineker stretched for the ball. He was taken off not long after

Lineker bounced back from the incident as he went on to score four goals in the World Cup

Lineker replied: ‘We’re going to do a s***trick OK.’ 

England – then managed by Sir Bobby Robson – went onto draw the game with Republic of Ireland 1-1.

However, they topped a group that also contained the Netherlands and Egypt before they heartbreakingly crashed out on penalties to West Germany in the semi-final.

Lineker bounced back well from the soiling embarrassment as he scored four goals during the World Cup, but the former striker is almost as well-remembered for his stinker against Ireland as his impressive performances elsewhere.