Former England striker and 1986 FIFA World Cup Golden Boot winner Gary Lineker launched a scathing attack on England manager Thomas Tuchel after the Three Lions surrendered a 1-0 lead to lose 2-1 against Lionel Messi’s Argentina in the semifinals of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
“I’ve started to think Thomas Tuchel might actually be a German spy,” Lineker joked on The Rest Is Football podcast. “Maybe he was sent here on purpose. Germany aren’t doing very well at the moment—they couldn’t even get out of the group stage—so perhaps they decided to send one of their own to sabotage us. Of course, I’m only joking.”
Lineker then questioned Tuchel’s tactical approach.
“After the Croatia game, he said, ‘If we’re going to lose, we’ll lose by playing attacking, aggressive football.’ But against Argentina, he did exactly the opposite. The most disappointing thing is that this team had a real chance of winning if they had continued to attack. I think he got it wrong.”
He continued, “Is he really the right man to take England forward? I’m not calling for him to be sacked—that’s not what I’m saying. Whether he stays or not depends on how he feels, and ultimately on how the Football Association views the situation.”
Former Arsenal midfielder and ex-France captain Patrick Vieira, who appeared as a guest on the podcast, disagreed with Lineker’s concerns.
“I think it would be crazy to sack him or change managers at this stage,” Vieira said.
Lineker was previously one of the BBC’s highest-paid presenters. According to the broadcaster’s latest Annual Report, covering the financial year ending in March 2026, he earned between £325,000 and £329,999, ranking 15th among the BBC’s highest-paid personalities before leaving the corporation in May last year.
Lineker has long shared a unique relationship with German football. After England’s heartbreaking penalty shootout defeat to West Germany in the 1990 World Cup semifinal, he famously coined one of football’s most enduring quotes:
“Football is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes, and at the end, the Germans always win.”
Years later, after Germany crashed out of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in the group stage following a defeat to South Korea, Lineker humorously updated his famous line:
“Football is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes, and in the end, Germany don’t always win. The previous version has now been consigned to history.”