The BBC has confirmed which 18 football pundits will take part in its coverage of the 2026 World Cup, which will be absent from many celebrities. That includes Manchester United fan favorite Wayne Rooney, who joins fellow former England stars Alan Shearer, Micah Richards, Joe Hart, Paul Robinson, Steph Houghton, Ellen White and Danny Murphy.
Scott Brown, Rachel Coursey and James McFadden will represent Scotland, while international stars Olivier Giroud, Gael Clichy, Cesar Azpilicueta, Beni McCarthy, Ashley Williams, Thomas Frank and Lucas Leyva will provide analysis for other countries.
Some of these celebrities had taken part in the broadcaster’s coverage of the Qatar 2022 World Cup, but many pundits have not been invited back. Former Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker and Bayern Munich manager Vincent Kompany are arguably the biggest players absent.
Players not selected include Didier Drogba, Rio Ferdinand, Danny Gabbidon, Ian Rush, Laura Georges, Jurgen Klinsmann, Mark Schwarzer, Gilberto Silva and Pablo Zabaleta. These decisions are made for a variety of reasons.
The World Cup begins on Thursday 11 June and the BBC will broadcast a total of 54 matches, including England’s group stage match against Ghana. It will also broadcast big matches such as Scotland vs. Haiti and Brazil, as well as France vs. Senegal, Brazil vs. Morocco, and Netherlands vs. Sweden.
As quoted in the BBC’s press release, sporting director Alex Kay Jelski said: “The BBC is transforming the biggest World Cup in history into the most iconic World Cup ever. We are bringing fans closer to every game, every moment and every story than ever before.”
“Sport brings people together in a true way like no other, so we can’t wait for our fans to not only watch live matches with us, but also enjoy a wealth of soccer content all day every day on our platform.
“With new series on YouTube and iPlayer, the biggest news stories from our website and apps, daily podcasts from Sounds, and trending moments from social media, we’ll be here for our viewers 24/7 this summer, taking them directly to the heart of the World Cup.”
