Gary Lineker on England’s losing streak, leaving the BBC, and his frosty relationship with Cristiano Ronaldo

Louis Theroux· Host0:00

[upbeat music] Hello, and welcome back to a brand new series of the Louis Theroux Podcast. [gentle music] And for our first episode, I'm joined by none other than English footballing icon, pundit extraordinaire, podcasting emperor, and face of Walker's Crisps, Gary Lineker. Gary is one of the country's best-known sports personalities, playing as striker for Leicester, Everton, Tottenham, Barcelona, and of course, England through the '80s and '90s, and winning the Golden Boot at the 1986 World Cup as the tournament's top scorer. After retiring from professional football in 1994, he took the reins of the BBC's iconic football highlights show, Match of the Day, becoming one of the most recognizable faces on British TV. In later years, Gary's become vocal about his political and humanitarian views on Twitter. In 2023, he temporarily stepped back from presenting for the BBC over his criticism of the British government's immigration policy. There was further controversy over a post about Zionism that Gary shared on Instagram the following year, leading to Gary leaving Match of the Day after twenty-six years at the helm. We talk about all of this in the chat. Gary's also launched a podcasting empire, uh-oh, under his previous moniker, sometimes it's a term of abuse, Goal Hanger. You know Goal Hanger.