The has named Kelly Cates, Mark Chapman, Gabby Logan and Alex Scott as the main faces of its 2026 FIFA World Cup coverage, ending the Gary Lineker era at the tournament for the first time this century. The broadcaster will be in North America with ITV and the two networks will screen every game for viewers in the UK.
That change matters now because the lineups for football’s biggest television event are being set, and the is putting a fresh presenting team in place after Lineker left the corporation at the end of the 2024/25 season. He had been a fixture of its TV football broadcasts since France 98, making this summer’s tournament the first World Cup this century without him at the centre of the operation.
Cates, Chapman, Logan and Scott already spent the past season filling the Match of the Day presenting hotseat, and now they will front the World Cup from North America in a move that gives the a different on-air identity as it competes with ITV for viewers and ratings. Scott has also just presented the last ever edition of Football Focus, underlining how quickly the network’s football presentation has shifted.
The wider cast is built to cover almost every angle of the tournament. Alan Shearer, Wayne Rooney and Micah Richards will appear on the ’s coverage, while Joe Hart, Steph Houghton, Danny Murphy, Paul Robinson and Ellen White will represent England. Scott Brown, Rachel Corsie and James McFadden will be the Scotland voices, Ashley Williams completes the home-nations line-up, and César Azpilicueta, Gaël Clichy, Thomas Frank, Benni McCarthy and Olivier Giroud add the international perspective. Giroud, who won the 2018 FIFA World Cup, gives that panel one of the sharpest winning credentials of anyone on the list.
There is a gap, though, that still matters to viewers planning their summer. The and ITV will show every match in the UK, but the exact split of which games land where has not been set out here. What is clear is that the will not lean on Lineker in the way it has for decades, and that its coverage from North America will be built around a new front line before a ball is kicked.
TV commentary will be led by Guy Mowbray, Steve Wilson, Steve Bower, Jonathan Pearce, Robyn Cowen and Steven Wyeth, with Liam McLeod on Scotland games, while co-commentary will come from Alan Shearer, Danny Murphy, Stephen Warnock, Martin Keown, Sue Smith, Paul Robinson, Rachel Corsie, James McFadden and Efan Ekoku. Kelly Somers will report from the England camp, Eilidh Barbour will be embedded with the Scotland squad, Darren Cann will offer a match official’s view, Radio 5 Live commentary will be available on selected fixtures and audio description will run on all live games.
