Bold headline: Netflix lands the cricket-quiet giant of football punditry, as Gary Lineker brings The Rest is Football to the World Cup on a global streaming stage.
Gary Lineker has struck a deal with Netflix to carry his podcast, The Rest is Football, throughout next year’s World Cup. The arrangement follows Lineker’s earlier departure from BBC coverage plans after a controversy over an antisemitism-related row.
The visualized podcast, hosted by Lineker alongside Alan Shearer and Micah Richards, currently releases three episodes each week. Under Netflix, it will roll out daily coverage during the World Cup. This marks Netflix’s first major push into live-appearing football content and broadens its podcast catalog, signaling a bid to compete with YouTube’s dominance in the space.
Lineker described the collaboration as a “fantastic opportunity for the three of us to do what we love—talk football every day—but on a truly global stage.” He added that listeners can expect the same mix of incisive analysis, candid discussions, and humor, with the added twist of more on-camera presence from the Big Apple.
Production company Goalhanger, which Lineker co-founded, explained that the show will feature game analysis, special guests, interviews, and insights into the world’s largest athletic event, taking place across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Filming is set in a New York studio, with reporters joining remotely from the England camp and from fan zones.
Goalhanger has other projects in The Rest Is series, spanning topics from politics and history to entertainment and money. The podcast currently streams on platforms including Spotify and Apple Podcasts, though it remains unclear whether those outlets will continue hosting it after the Netflix debut.
In other 2025 news, Lineker is set to front ITV’s new game show, The Box, which drops ten celebrities into oversized yellow boxes at surprising locales to tackle challenges upon release.
Earlier this year, Lineker was named Best TV Presenter at the National Television Awards, snapping Ant and Dec’s 23-year streak. His BBC exit came after a backlash over a Zionism-related post that included a rat emoji—an emblem often associated with antisemitic insult. Lineker stated he didn’t intend to share antisemitic content and apologized, calling stepping back the responsible course of action given BBC impartiality rules.
The broader takeaway: Lineker’s move to Netflix signals a notable shift in where top football discourse can live during major tournaments—and it invites debate about how streaming platforms shape sports coverage, celebrity-brand alignment, and audience expectations during global events. How do you feel about the rise of streaming platforms hosting daily sports talk during big events, versus traditional broadcasters? Share your thoughts in the comments.
