Ian Wright forced home from World Cup after family are burgled at knifepoint

The former Arsenal and England striker had been commentating for ITV at the football tournament when four armed men broke into his north-west London home and threatened his wife Nancy and two daughters.

A spokesman for Scotland Yard confirmed, "We are investigating an aggravated burglary at an address in north-west London after we were called at 9.20 last night.

"Personal possessions were stolen. The suspects are described as four black men aged between 18 and 25 with London accents, wearing dark clothing and hoodies obscuring their faces."

A spokeswoman for Wright, 50, added, "Ian is currently on a flight home from Brazil now and he lands at lunchtime. He is going straight home to see his family.

"We are very grateful to ITV for being so supportive and getting him back so quickly.

"Nancy is really shaken up. Their kids are so young that hopefully they aren't going to read into it too much. They are all physically OK – Nancy and the kids.

"Ian is just really upset and angry and just wants to come back and be with his family at this time."

The pundit – who is now believed to be back on England soil – took to Twitter to warn the culprits, "You won't get away with it!"

https://twitter.com/IanWright0/statuses/479372773991911424

It is understood that he will be replaced by Gus Poyet during tonight's England clash against Uruguay. The Sunderland manager and former Chelsea player was capped 26 times for the South American side.

Coverage of England's clash with Uruguay begins tonight at 7:00pm on ITV (kick off 8:00pm).