Previous betting markets offer some clues as to who might replace Gary Lineker as the BBC's World Cup host.
It was confirmed today that Gary Lineker is leaving the BBC following a controversy over a social media post deemed antisemitic.
He will leave the corporation after presenting his final episode of Match of the Day on Sunday, the final day of the 2024/25 Premier League season.
It was already confirmed that the 64-year-old would leave Match of the Day at the end of this season. However, he had been due to remain as the BBC's host for the men's FA Cup and the World Cup in 2026.
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While there are no official betting markets for his World Cup replacement, we can look to the former Match of the Day presenter odds market for some insight.
When the former England star announced in November he would step down from Match of the Day, bookmakers started taking bets on his replacement.
The market remained open until Kelly Cates, Mark Chapman and Gabby Logan were announced as his replacements - the first time the role will be shared between three people.
While Chapman topped the betting through oddschecker (25%) and Cates came in third (18%), Logan was edged into fourth (11%). Instead, Alex Scott split the three in second place with just of 20% of the bets.
This raises the possibility that Scott, presenter of Football Focus since 2021, could land the World Cup and FA Cup job having missed out on the Match of the Day position.
The other presenter in the original top five was Amazon Prime anchor Kelly Somers (3.2% of the bets), while Sky Sports frontman was just outside of that five (2.9%).
