US Soccer's Landon Donovan Addresses Hairpiece After Balding Struggles

Ashlyn Harris Shares Her Game-Winning Advice for World Cup 2026 Athletes

Landon Donovan no longer has to rely on a hat trick to hide his hair.

Indeed, viewers took notice during the 2026 World Cup that the former U.S. Men’s National Team soccer player is now rocking some luscious locks—a stark contrast to the thinning combover he had been sporting for years.

After two failed hair transplants over the past two decades—one of which went viral in 2024, when evidence of the attempt was caught on camera—Donovan now wears a custom hairpiece.

It was a last-resort decision the World Cup commentator made to address insecurities over his thinning hair, which was reinforced when fans taunted him by chanting, “Rogaine! Rogaine!”

“It wasn’t like a breakthrough, soul-crushing moment,” the 44-year-old told The Athletic in October. “But that’s sort of a microcosm of what it’s always been my whole life.”

Eventually, Donovan reached an impasse, admitting, “Maybe it’s mid-life crisis or whatever.”

“I thought to myself, ‘It’s just annoying to have this,’” he continued. “Every time I saw myself in a picture: ‘I’m bald here and bald up here.’ And I don’t even know what it’s like to have hair. No idea. So my choices are leave it as is, shave it all off or try to do a hairpiece.”

So, the Unfiltered podcast host took his supporters along for the journey, even documenting his hairpiece fitting and its final result.

Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images; Jamie Squire/Getty Images

“If I just showed up on TV the next time or on the pod and I had hair, it’s going to be f--king weird, right?” he explained to The Athletic. “You can’t just show up and be like, ‘Hey, look at me!’ I’m going to have to talk about it at some point. So I just figured just be transparent with it.”

In addition to the confidence Donovan now feels thanks to his new hair, he’s also found support from people who have experienced the same insecurities.

“You have no idea the messages I’ve received,” he shared. “I had no idea how many people deal with this and feel like I did. I could read you thousands of messages from people saying, ‘Thank you so much, I’ve dealt with this.’”

Donovan added, “It’s been really powerful, honestly. And that was not at all in any way the intention. But it’s been a really nice side effect.”

For more stars who have debuted epic hair transformations over the years, keep reading…

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