Gary Lineker delighted fans by making a shock appearance for ITV as a pundit during the World Cup.The ex-England striker was the host of the BBC‘s Match of the Day for well over 25 years until departing at the end of the 2024/25 season.Lineker is in the United States with Micah Richards and Alan Shearer for their show, The Rest is FootballGettyThe 65-year-old joined his former MOTD colleague Ian Wright as a pundit alongside Gary Neville, Duncan Ferguson, and Laura Woods.The quintet were all previewing Germany‘s World Cup clash against Ivory Coast on Saturday evening.And Lineker even temporarily reclaimed his more natural presenting role from Woods to read off the telepromoter to the delight of fans. Lineker is already in the US as part of ‘The Rest Is Football’ podcast with Micah Richards and Alan Shearer, with the latter on the BBC as a co-commentator.View Tweet: https://x.com/GaryLineker?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwThey are based in New York City, along with ITV, unlike the BBC, who rely on taxpayers’ money to run their services.As a result, they have decided to base themselves in Salford until the closing stages, though their reporters, commentators and co-commentators are in the stadiums. The pundits will head out for the latter stages.Meanwhile, ITV have a studio with the Manhattan skyline in the background, and Lineker made it clear he’d rather be in the action than be in a studio in the UK.He said: “I am very surprised the Beeb are not coming. It doesn’t make sense to me.“It will probably get the vast majority of the most-watched television programmes of the year. Almost certainly, therefore, it justifies a presence.“And they [the BBC] will cover it fine… but I have done many shows when we have not been able to go to tournaments, and you are in a green box. Even if it looks like you are not at home – you are. And it’s soulless.”Lineker was a staple at the BBC for more than a quarter of a centuryGetty Images - GettyLineker’s lifeLineker became a key part of Premier League fans’ lives for over two decades, having taken fans through the top-flight highlights every Saturday night.But as he exclusively revealed to talkSPORT, he’s happy with that chapter of his life being closed.He said earlier this month: “To be honest, I never missed playing football.“And I never missed even playing golf when I gave that up – so I know I definitely didn’t [miss it].“Actually, I really enjoyed for the first time in my adult life having regular weekends off.“And I’ve made the most of it. I’d either go in for, you know, special lunches or little trips away for the weekend – so I’ve really enjoyed that.“I mean, I love the show [Match of the Day], and I loved doing it for a long time.“But I didn’t necessarily love, by the end of it, travelling up to Manchester early in the morning on a Saturday and arriving back about 3am on Sunday morning.“So I don’t miss that aspect in particular, but I still watch the show, I watch it every week.”