This time, at least, he will not go out in the group stage or be replaced by Alan Smith. But, 34 years after Graham Taylor made one of the most infamous substitutions in England’s history, curtailing Lineker’s international career when he was one behind Bobby Charlton’s longstanding record for goals, he will bow out of the BBC at the 2026 World Cup. At a time of momentous global developments, it is front-page news.
If that highlights the huge role he has played in the worlds of football and media over the last four decades, it also shows the way Lineker became a lightning rod, his contract and tweets rendering him more controversial off the pitch than on it. Which, in turn, is a sign of strange times. And yet his departure is also unsurprising news.
Some BBC insiders recently felt it was 50-50 if Lineker left at the end of this season or got a one-year extension to his deal to enable a World Cup Golden Boot winner to go out at a tournament that defined him. In a way, both happened: he will finish up presenting Match Of The Day’s Premier League highlights in 2025. The early news of his exit illustrates that the new BBC director of sport Alex Kay-Jelski has wasted little time in effecting change; some within the BBC thought he wanted Lineker gone.
The exit of Jermaine Jenas, for rather different reasons, removes one possible successor; Jenas’s rapid rise, however, was a sign of the opportunities granted to former footballers whereas Lineker was a rarity – a penalty-.
