Gabby Logan received the schedule for the BBC’s World Cup coverage, but her first match in the studio had a bittersweet twist. Logan, whose father Terry Yolas played and coached the Wales national team, will star in the live broadcast of the Group B match between Canada and Bosnia and Herzegovina on June 12.
But had it not been for the play-off heartbreak in March, it’s entirely possible that Wales would have faced the co-hosts instead. Logan said, “I’m personally disappointed in my first game because in my mind it was supposed to be Canada vs. Wales, and maybe Canada vs. Italy. So I’m excited about Canada vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina, but it wasn’t the game I thought I would play when I was first presented with the schedule.”
The BBC match will be split between Rogan, fellow Match of the Day presenters Mark Chapman and Kelly Cates, and former England women’s international Alex Scott. There’s no word on who will host the final, but there’s no shortage of things to cover for all four presenters.
Wales finished second in their qualifying group behind Belgium and qualified for the play-offs. Had Craig Bellamy’s side progressed well into the tournament itself, they would have faced Qatar and Switzerland, as well as co-hosts Canada.
They qualified for the 2022 World Cup through the play-offs, but fell short this time, losing to Bosnia and Herzegovina on penalties after Edin Dzeko’s late equalizer erased Dan James’ goal. Serge Barbares’ side then won the second penalty shootout against Italy to qualify following a 1-1 draw.
Logan also confirmed he will be England’s frontman for the group stage game against Ghana. However, the BBC’s presenting team will start the tournament in a studio in Salford and will only fly to North America for subsequent rounds.
“I think we’ve had a lot of tournaments like this before,” Logan said. “This is how we did the Women’s World Cup and this is how we did the Women’s Euros (2025).”
She added: “There are a lot of good reasons for us to do that and I think in the case of BAFTA last week, with these tournaments and award-winning games, our coverage has been exceptional. So I don’t think not being there for the whole tournament will have a negative impact on our coverage. We’ll have people on the ground, obviously we’ll have reporters, we’ll have commentators, so you’ll get a lot of the feeling that people are there.”
“And whether it’s Paris or the Euros, whether it’s Paris or the Euros, whether it’s going back to Brazil in Rio and having a tournament based in the same location, it was one studio in one location and everything else was happening around that. So I don’t think it really impacts or diminishes the experience for the audience.”
