GARY Lineker is to quit the BBC after the 2026 World Cup, The Sun can reveal.
The star will stop presenting Match of the Day at the end of this season.
But – as part of an 18-month contract extension – the 63-year-old will stay on to anchor the Corporation’s 2025/26 FA Cup coverage and the next World Cup.
Lineker, who will take a substantial pay cut, will have hosted MOTD for 25 years when he steps down from the show.
Anchoring the World Cup, which is being held in Canada, Mexico and USA, will mean he bows out on the biggest stage in football.
Last night a BBC source said: “Gary absolutely adores Match of the Day, and has been incredibly happy at the BBC.
“But he has been at the helm since 1999, and by the time he leaves, he will have been at the Beeb for 30 years.
“He wants to leave on a high – and if England win the World Cup, it doesn’t get much higher.
“It’s one of the industry’s worst kept secrets that the new BBC Director of Sport Alex Kay-Jelski and Gary aren’t exactly close. The former is very keen to make his mark by bringing in new faces, and slashing wage bills.
“Negotiations have been ongoing for the past six weeks and finally a deal has been struck that everyone is pleased with.
“Gary is incredibly popular with both players and viewers, and news of his departure will send shockwaves around the Corporation. In other words, no-one is immune from change.
“Gary will be 65 when he leaves; frankly, he isn’t getting younger and just feels the time is right to focus solely on his mogul interests outside the BBC – namely his Goalhanger podcasting business which is becoming huge Stateside.
“BBC execs, meanwhile, will be giving Match of the Day a reboot to keep it fresh in the wake of such a huge departure.”
The former England striker is understood to be on new terms, which will see his salary reduced significantly. He currently receives £1.35m, making him the highest paid broadcaster at the BBC.
The pay cut, in part, is because he will no longer be fronting MOTD – and stand alone payments for the World Cup and FA Cups won’t compensate for this financially.
A spokesperson for the BBC declined to comment.
Over the past two months there has been frenzied speculation that the star was leaving the BBC’s flagship football programme.
Last month a reported leaked email suggested he could be quitting the long-running series mid-season – promoting Gary to joke on air it was his “last game”- before clarifying he meant before the international break.
In a recent interview with Esquire Magazine, the ex Spurs star was asked if was stepping down from the Match of the Day hotseat.
He replied: “I could do. Whether that will be the case I don’t know.
“At some point, I have to slow down somewhere… I’m getting old.”
The Sun previously revealed Lineker – who took over from Des Lynam in 1999 – was keen to stay on MOTD and had offered to take a pay cut.
While Gary has previously landed himself in hot water over his controversial Tweets, he has since struck a deal with the Director General Tim Davie over what he can and can’t post.
Last season he was even taken off air for an episode in the wake of a Tweet comparing the then-government’s asylum policy to Nazi Germany.
But his co-stars, Alan Shearer and Ian Wright, refused to go on air without him. The BBC also failed to find a stand-in host to take over in his wake and was forced to air a truncated version of the show.
Gary has also come under fire in the wake of launching his hugely successful podcasting empire.
Earlier this year five of his Goalhanger productions topped the UK most listened-to podcasts. It has also taken off in the States, making him something of a multi-media mogul.
The Sun understands that the BBC is now planning a number of shake-ups to revive the format once Lineker leaves.
Thanks for the matchday memories, Gary
By Joshua Jones, Sports Reporter
FOR as long as I can remember, Gary Lineker has been the No1 football presenter.
Born a few years after his retirement as a player, I have no memories of my own of Lineker on the pitch – for Leicester, Everton, Barcelona, Tottenham or England.
Instead, I grew up with him as a regular in our lounge on a Saturday night, hosting Match of the Day.
For more than two decades, it has been Lineker, the increasingly silver fox, who provided a sense of continuity and stability, an ever-present regardless of which pundits joined him in the studio and which teams made up the Premier League season after season.
An astute understanding of the game, his charming persona and his consistency over the years have made him a firm favourite.
It is telling that MOTD continues to be such a success and must-watch viewing for so many in an era when all the goals and incidents from Premier League matches are available well before 10.30pm on a Saturday night.
He always seemed to hit the right note, too – whether he was required to make a sombre, serious announcement live on air or signing off the show with one of his trademark quips.
In recent years, he has not been afraid to speak his mind more and more, thanks in part to his platform as the top-paid BBC presenter and his huge profile outside of the MOTD studio – namely on social media and on his own podcast.
His long run in the Match of the Day hot seat means, for many football fans of my era, our whole football journey has been accompanied by Lineker – from the heights of Premier League title wins and FA Cup upsets to the depths of relegation and, of course, heartbreak with England.
Because while the bread and butter Match of the Day is the Saturday night highlights, Lineker has also been the main man for the Three Lions’ major tournaments, having to console millions of BBC viewers after gut-wrenching defeats to Croatia, Italy, France and Spain in recent years while he himself, as big a football fan as any of us, mourned another missed opportunity.
There is one Lineker moment that stands out above the rest, though.
Of course, Lineker Road in my hometown of Leicester beside the old Filbert Street stadium got its name thanks to his goalscoring exploits for his beloved Foxes.
But he deserved a far greater honour for what he did on August 13, 2016, famously presenting MOTD in his (very baggy!) pants, coming good on a promise he vowed should Leicester win the title. And somehow he kept a straight face through it all.
Ironically, the biggest compliment many people can pay Lineker as MOTD host is that they didn’t know he was a footballer – he is not just an ex-pro who has made a smooth transition from the stadium to the studio but is instead a brilliant TV presenter in his own right, regardless of his status in football.
That is proven by the very fact Lineker succeeded the iconic Des Lynam in 1999 as MOTD host so successfully.
It will require another fine presenter and plenty of time to follow in his footsteps as a new era begins.
They may well succeed, too, but no one will ever really replace Lineker – what he means to so many football fans and the role he plays in countless memories over the last 25 years.
Thank you for everything, Gary.
A source added: “The BBC are desperate not to see figures haemorrhage and want to maximise on the show’s current popularity.
“They will bring in some exciting new measures over the next few years, whilst not reinventing the wheel.”
News of his departure comes as the BBC recently celebrated 60 years of Match of the Day.
However the show was rocked earlier this year after pundit Jermaine Jenas was quietly axed after it emerged he had been texting two younger female members of staff on The One Show.
3
Who could replace Gary Lineker as MOTD host?
GARY LINEKER dropped the shock news that he is QUITTING Match of the Day.
The popular presenter, 63, took over hosting duties on the flagship BBC programme from Des Lynam in 1999.
But after more than 25 years in the studio hotseat, he has called time on his MOTD gig.
But as part of a huge shake-up, the BBC is considering rotating the presenters on a weekly basis.
So with Lineker vacating the chair, new names will step into his giant boots. But who could they be?
MARK CHAPMAN
Chapman, 51, is the obvious early favourite to follow on from Lineker as MOTD presenter.
He already has the gig as MOTD2 host on a Sunday night plus landed the presenting job for the new BBC Champions League highlights show.
ALEX SCOTT
Scott gets the nod from the Beeb bosses when Lineker is away.
The former right-back, 40, is used to presenting the Saturday night show as well as live match coverage – plus ticks the box as a former England international.
GABBY LOGAN
Like Scott, Logan, 51, is one of the understudies to step in when Lineker is not available.
She has done most gigs since joining the BBC in 2007, including Olympics, Sports Personality of the Year and Final Score.
MICAH RICHARDS
Lineker’s top pick to replace him is exuberant former Man City defender Richards.
The departing host told his close pal, 36, on their Stick to Football podcast: “I’d love to see you take over Micah, I think you’d be brilliant in the chair.”
JASON MOHAMMAD
Mohammad could earn the “promotion” from Final Score to Match of the Day.
The 51-year-old Welshman – who took over from Logan in 2013 – is one of the BBC’s top earners already and is more senior than fellow Final Score and BBC Sport broadcaster Kelly Somers, who could in theory become the main live host for the afternoon slot.
JEFF STELLING
He couldn’t, could he? While Lineker has been the face of Saturday night TV for football fans for years, the face of the afternoons was Stelling in his role as Sky Sports’ Soccer Saturday presenter.
He would bring plenty of on-screen charisma, wit and legendary TV expertise – but at nearly 70 and currently with talkSPORT, the Hartlepool fan would not be a cheap or long-term appointment.
