BBC announce World Cup pundits line-up as 11 big names left out | Football | Sport
The BBC have confirmed which 18 football pundits will be part of their coverage for the 2026 World Cup with a number of big names absent. Among those included is Manchester United fan favourite Wayne Rooney and he is alongside fellow ex-England stars Alan Shearer, Micah Richards, Joe Hart, Paul Robinson, Steph Houghton, Ellen White and Danny Murphy.
Scott Brown, Rachel Corsie and James McFadden will be representing Scotland while international stars Olivier Giroud, Gael Clichy, Cesar Azpilicueta, Benni McCarthy, Ashley Williams, Thomas Frank and Lucas Leiva will be providing analysis on other nations.
Several of those high-profile names were part of the broadcasters’ coverage of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar but a number of pundits have not been invited back. Former Match of the Day host Gary Lineker and Bayern Munich boss Vincent Kompany are arguably the biggest names absent.
Didier Drogba, Rio Ferdinand, Danny Gabbidon, Ian Rush, Laura Georges, Jurgen Klinsmann, Mark Schwarzer, Gilberto Silva and Pablo Zabaleta are among those not selected. Those decisions have been made for a number of reasons.
The World Cup starts on Thursday, June 11 and the BBC will be airing a total of 54 matches including England’s group-stage clash against Ghana. They will also show Scotland games against Haiti and Brazil and some big matches including France vs Senegal, Brazil vs Morocco and the Netherlands vs Sweden.
As quoted in the BBC‘s press release, Director of Sport Alex Kay-Jelski said: “The BBC is turning the biggest World Cup in history into the most iconic one yet. We’re bringing fans closer to every match, every moment and every story than ever before.
“Sport truly unites people like nothing else so we can’t wait for fans to enjoy not just the live matches with us but an abundance of football content, all day, every day across our platforms.
“Whether it’s our new series on YouTube and iPlayer, the biggest news stories on our website and app, our daily podcasts on Sounds or the viral moments on social media – we’re here for audiences 24/7 this summer, taking them straight to heart of the World Cup.”
