Gary Lineker appearing on ITV’s World Cup coverage following BBC exit

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Gary Lineker left the BBC in May 2025, ending his 26-year run as a soccer commentator there.

On Saturday, he’ll appear on BBC’s biggest rival.

Per Matt Slater and Sam Joseph at The Athletic, Lineker is expected to make a guest appearance during ITV’s broadcast of Saturday’s Group E match between Germany and Ivory Coast.

This would mark the 65-year-old’s first return to TV coverage following his BBC departure, which came following outcry for his posting of an image to social media that many considered to be antisemitic.

Lineker shared a social media post about Zionism that featured an illustration of a rat, which is historically considered to be an antisemitic insult. The former Leicester City, Everton, Barcelona and Tottenham Hotspur striker deleted the post and apologized, claiming that he was unaware of the antisemitic connotation. However, many critics continued calling for the BBC to fire Lineker, who has a history of making polarizing political statements on social media. He previously generated headlines after seemingly endorsing a video that accused Israel of committing “textbook genocide.”

He made his final appearance with the network on “Match of the Day” in late May.

“I care deeply about the game, and about the work I’ve done with the BBC over many years,” Lineker said in May 2025. “As I’ve said, I would never consciously repost anything antisemitic — it goes against everything I stand for. However, I recognise the error and upset that I caused, and reiterate how sorry I am. Stepping back now feels like the responsible course of action.”

Since then, Lineker has been hosting The Rest is Football podcast with Alan Shearer and Micah Richards. Lineker’s production company Goalhanger agreed an $18.9m deal with Netflix to stream daily versions of the show during the 2026 World Cup.

The post Gary Lineker appearing on ITV’s World Cup coverage following BBC exit appeared first on Awful Announcing.

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