Gary Lineker is set to appear on British broadcaster ITV’s World Cup coverage in a move that would see him feature for the direct rivals of his former employers, the BBC.Lineker is expected to appear in a guest capacity during the broadcast of Saturday’s Group E match between Germany and Ivory Coast. ITV’s World Cup studio is located in Brooklyn, New York, while the match will take place at BMO Field in Toronto, Canada.The 65-year-old spent 26 years working for the BBC as the presenter of Match of the Day, a weekly highlights package show of the Premier League, before departing the broadcaster in May 2025.During the World Cup, Lineker has been hosting The Rest is Football podcast from New York City, alongside Alan Shearer and Micah Richards, after Lineker’s production company Goalhanger agreed a £14million ($18.9m) deal with Netflix to stream daily versions of the show.The BBC confirmed last year that Lineker would be leaving the corporation. This came after the former England striker was criticised and subsequently “apologised unreservedly” for sharing a social media post that included a rat emoji. The post was from the group Palestine Lobby and was captioned “Zionism explained in two minutes”. A rat has often been used as an antisemitic insult.“I care deeply about the game, and about the work I’ve done with the BBC over many years,” Lineker said in May last year. “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.”Earlier this month, Lineker was asked by The Athletic whether there was a rivalry between The Rest is Football and Stick to Football, a podcast hosted by Gary Neville, Roy Keane, Ian Wright and Jill Scott, with Lineker pointing to the relationship between the BBC and ITV.“It’s like the BBC and ITV at the World Cup,” he said. “I used to care about who got the biggest figures. The BBC always wins the head-to-head but you could see who was getting the bigger audiences for the exclusive matches during the tournament.“But at the last few tournaments, I just thought that was absurd. It’s not sport. You just try to do a really good TV show and some people might prefer the other side and it doesn’t matter.”Lineker — who played for Leicester City, Everton, Barcelona, Tottenham Hotspur and Japanese team Nagoya Grampus Eight — featured 12 times for England at the World Cup and holds the record for the most goals scored by an English player at the tournament with 10.Lineker would not be the first to appear for both broadcasters. Wright appeared as a pundit for the BBC in World Cup coverage and was a regular on Match of the Day, though is working for ITV this summer. Richards, who is part of BBC’s coverage for this tournament, has also appeared for both.Karen Carney has also worked for both broadcasters, while Lee Dixon appeared as a pundit on Match of the Day before moving to ITV, where he now works as a commentator.Jun 19, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports terms