Gary Lineker criticized the BBC after leaving last year. (Image: Getty)
Former England captain and TV presenter Gary Lineker has said he hasn’t been “stepping on eggshells as much these days” since leaving the BBC. The 65-year-old stepped down as Match of the Day host after 26 years in May 2025 following controversy over expressing his political views on social media.
His resignation came after a row following an Instagram post about Zionism that featured a depiction of a rat, a historically anti-Semitic slur. In the run-up to the 2026 World Cup, Lineker will air daily The Rest Is Football, produced by his production company Goal Hunger Podcast, on Netflix, and will cover events in the United States, Canada and Mexico alongside former soccer players Micah Richards and Alan Shearer.
Speaking to the Press Association about life beyond the BBC, Lineker told the Press Association: “I’ve got a bit more time and I’m not treading on eggshells these days so I’m allowed to have an opinion on things.”
“But no, I’ve had a great period with the Beeb, and I’ve covered so many major tournaments, and obviously, originally I was going to do this (2026 World Cup), but now I’m doing something different, so that’s really exciting.”
ITV will have its team in New York for the duration of the tournament, while the BBC plans to keep most of its presenters and pundits in the UK until the final week.
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Lineker made it clear that he disagreed with the decision, adding: “I’m a bit surprised that Beeb won’t be joining us until probably the final stage of the competition. Getting into the green box is not missed in itself, but I do miss parts of the company.”
“But the fact that we now have our own program with lots of guests and staff has completely replaced it. We’re not competing with the BBC in this respect because obviously they’re more focused on live football.”
“We don’t have the rights, but we do have programs that people can watch together. I think the BBC and ITV obviously cover football brilliantly.”
Gary Lineker left the BBC last year. (Image: Getty)
Lineker went on to express concerns about the United States co-hosting the games, given President Donald Trump’s actions, including his confrontation with Iran, one of the participating nations.
The former Barcelona striker, who has surprisingly never received a single yellow card in his career, pointed out that every World Cup he has covered has been marked by controversy, pointing to concerns about LGBTQ+ rights in Qatar in 2022 and hosting Russia in 2018, just four years after the invasion of Crimea.
“I think this is probably the first time that the host country is at war with one of its competitors. We have unpredictable leaders,” he said.
“But from a lot of my experience, once you get there, once you start, it’s always okay, it’s always great, football takes over and I really hope that’s the case and we don’t have to hide anything negative or what happened and hopefully nothing goes wrong.
“But I’m a little more nervous about this than most people, for obvious reasons.”
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