Gary Lineker, who left the BBC after a long spell presenting Match of the Day, is set to appear on ITV’s coverage of the World Cup match between Germany and Ivory Coast. The reports say the appearance comes after Lineker’s departure from the BBC in May 2025, ending more than two decades as a prominent BBC presenter. Several outlets note his BBC exit was accelerated following an antisemitism row in which he shared and later deleted a social media post associated with “Palestine Lobby” content, and he later issued an apology and said he was cutting ties with the corporation prematurely.
Lineker is already involved in World Cup coverage via his Netflix collaboration, The Rest is Football, hosted with Alan Shearer and Micah Richards. For ITV, sources frame his involvement as either a cameo or a more sustained pundit role, with details not fully confirmed at the time of reporting. He is not listed among ITV’s regular tournament pundits, though guest participation is described as normal. The match is scheduled to start at 8pm UK time, with ITV’s World Cup studio set up in New York.
