Gary Lineker 'thought he was going to die' in harrowing experience

Gary Lineker has revealed he genuinely feared for his life during the World Cup match that transformed his career. Forty years on from Lineker's breakthrough international tournament, the World Cup is set to return to North America, with the United States, Mexico and Canada serving as joint-hosts.

With a number of matches scheduled during the daytime, two of England's group games kicking off at 4pm in the US, concerns have been raised over the sweltering heat, particularly in Mexico and the southern US states. Conditions are at least treated far more seriously nowadays, with drinks breaks permitted should temperatures prove especially punishing.

That wasn't the case at Mexico '86, where Lineker rescued England from an early exit with a hat-trick against Poland. The former Match of the Day host has described it as the match that defined his career, yet it also left a lasting impression for far less glorious reasons, owing to the ferocious heat.

Lineker told The i Paper: "It was murder, absolute murder. We played three times in Monterrey, one at 12pm, the other two at 4pm, and it got to 42 degrees. When I played and scored the hat-trick, in the second half of that game, I really did think I was going to keel over and I might be a goner.

"My legs had gone and I started to feel dizzy from the heat and exhaustion but you get on with it and it will have changed a bit now. We didn't have a drinks break, for a start."

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The 65-year-old stepped down after 26 years as MOTD host in May 2025, following criticism over his airing his political opinions on social media. His departure came after a row following an Instagram post he shares about Zionism, which featured a depiction of a rat, historically an anti-semitic insult.

Lineker will bring The Rest Is Football, produced by his production company Goalhanger Podcasts, to Netflix for the World Cup as a daily TV programme, alongside Micah Richards and Alan Shearer.

Discussing life beyond the BBC, Lineker said: "I've got a bit more time, I'm not treading on quite so many eggshells these days, I'm allowed an opinion on things.

"But no, I had a wonderful period at the Beeb, and I've covered so many major tournaments, and obviously I was going to do this [the World Cup] originally, but now I'm doing something different, which is really exciting."

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While ITV is positioning its team in New York throughout the tournament, the BBC intends to keep the majority of its presenters and pundits in the UK until the final week.

Lineker added: "I'm a bit surprised the Beeb are not going until possibly the very latter stages of the competition. I won't miss being in the green box itself, but I miss some of the company.

"But the fact we've got our own show now with loads of guests and stuff, that's been replaced completely. We're not in competition with the BBC in this, because obviously they're focused on live football.

"We haven't got the rights, but we've got a show that people can watch alongside. I think the BBC and ITV both, obviously, cover football brilliantly."

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