Gary Lineker makes stunning BBC return after England World Cup victory

Gary Lineker made a shock return to the BBC in the aftermath of England’s World Cup win over Norway, a year on from his dramatic exit from the broadcaster

Gary Lineker gate-crashed BBC Sport’s coverage of England’s 2-1 victory over Norway in an uncomfortable cameo appearance. The former Three Lions skipper barged in and hijacked Micah Richards ‘ segment following Jude Bellingham’s match-winning brace.

BBC Sport broadcast their response to Thomas Tuchel’s team securing their World Cup semi-final place after ITV held the rights for the quarter-final clash.

Wayne Rooney was accompanied by Ellen White to provide analysis of the extra-time triumph with Richards dialling in from New York, but it was halfway through the programme when Lineker barged in and disrupted proceedings.

The pundits were debating England’s penalty after it was reversed by Clement Turpin as he ruled that Djed Spence had initiated contact with Oscar Bobb before tumbling to the turf.

Richards was sharing his thoughts on the French official’s decision to overturn his initial call when an England-shirted Lineker suddenly leapt into frame.

Lineker said: “Definitely a penalty,” leaving Richards taken aback, as he added: “Come on England. Nice to see you all there.”

The 65-year-old then swiftly left while Rooney delivered a parting jibe, remarking: “Kit looks a bit snug there, Gaz,” in jest.

Lineker seemed far more chipper about the World Cup result than he did in the aftermath of Argentina’s controversial 3-2 win over Egypt, taking to The Rest Is Football earlier this week to lambast VAR’s potentially game-changing decision.

Egypt looked to have doubled their 1-0 lead early into the second-half of their round of 16 clash, with Mostafa Ziko slotting home with ease after stunning build-up play from Haissem Hassan and Mohamed Salah.

However, VAR spotted what they believed to be a foul on Lisandro Martinez in the process of play, overturning the goal to keep the score at 1-0. It was a decision which ruffled Lineker’s feathers, as he hit out at VAR chopping and changing their stance on interfering with referee decisions during the tournament.

He said: “The problem is we will never, ever get consistency from VAR because they change their tune. They weren’t involved much at the start of the tournament, then they want to get involved, now they’re being more involved, now they’ll probably be less involved because there’ll be a bit of a stink about this one.

“The problem is not necessarily all of the people doing VAR, the problem is VAR itself.”

He further added: “That’s where the problem with VAR is, this thing about, ‘Is it enough of a foul?’ If they just changed it and said it’s either a foul or not, but at the moment they’re still using this thing – it has to be enough of a turnover.

“Therefore, it will always be a nightmare. The only way out of this, as I’ve said a million times, is an appeal system which will eventually come, because we can’t carry on as it is.”

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