Gary Lineker to quit Match of the Day! Date for presenter's final BBC appearance revealed as ex-England star to step down after 25 years on flagship show

The former England international was in talks with the BBC over a new contract in October and now BBC News is reporting that he will stop presenting Match of the Day (MOTD) at the end of the 2024-25 season. The report adds he will quit the BBC entirely after the 2026 World Cup, too.

Lineker has hosted the BBC's flagship football show MOTD since 1999 but his time on that programme will soon come to a momentous end. The report adds Lineker has signed an 18-month deal with the BBC, where he has taken a substantial pay cut from his reported £1.3 million-a-year deal.

Lineker was in the headlines in March 2023 after writing on X, formerly Twitter, that the language used by the Conservative government was "not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 1930s" in regards to it's asylum policy. He was briefly taken off air before returning to the BBC soon after.

Until then, Lineker will continue to present MOTD and work with the BBC as a host. It remains to be seen what the former Tottenham striker will do after this, but he admitted in August to Esquire magazine that he will have to "slow down at some point". BBC News claims his exit will be announced on Tuesday.