Gary Lineker’s ‘The Rest Is Football’ is coming to Netflix during the FIFA World Cup
Gary Lineker’s podcast, The Rest Is Football, has teamed up with Netflix for something new in the upcoming FIFA World Cup.
The former BBC presenter will reportedly host an everyday version of the podcast along with Alan Shearer and Micah Richards, during the FIFA World Cup in North America. This means daily shows will be held throughout the 2026 tournament over the summer.
The podcast will be aired from a New York studio, featuring analysis and reporting from World Cup games. The Rest Is Football will also bring special celebrity guests to comment on the same.
Since The Rest Is Football and Netflix don’t have the US or UK rights to World Cup highlights or live games, the show will likely not feature on-field action. Instead, Fox holds the rights to screen games in America, while the BBC and ITV have the rights in the UK.
For those uninitiated, The Rest Is Football is part of the Goalhanger catalogue of podcasts, which also comprises The Rest Is History and The Rest Is Entertainment. The show was originally launched in 2023.
The Rest Is Football is undoubtedly one of the biggest sports podcasts, with over 7million monthly streams, which was originally conceived in partnership with the BBC. However, after Lineker left the broadcaster in May, the new episodes halted streaming on BBC Sounds.
Lineker was also supposed to present the World Cup for the channel, but he took the exit quite out of the blue after sharing a now-deleted controversial Instagram video. He eventually extended his apologies for the post.
Speaking about the Netflix deal, Linekar stated, “We can’t wait to bring The Rest Is Football to Netflix for the 2026 World Cup. It’s a fantastic opportunity for the three of us to do what we love – talk football every day – but on a truly global stage. Expect all the usual analysis, honesty, and plenty of laughs… just with a few more cameras pointed at us, all from the Big Apple.”
While Netflix’s sports segment has taken quite a few leaps this year, this one is clearly the icing on the cake before 2025 ends.