‘Italia 90 is the one thing I look back on and think ‘If only’, because we would have had a real chance in the final – winning a World Cup is immortality, it’s forever’ Gary Lineker tells FFT about the biggest regret from his playing career

Gary Lineker has an exclusive interview with FourFourTwo
Gary Lineker shot exclusively for FourFourTwo magazine, March 2025 (Image credit: Nick Eagle)

Gary Lineker has achieved many things during his life in football – before becoming a successful television presenter, he was an England hero at two World Cups.

Lineker is stepping down as host of Match of the Day next month after 26 years, and spoke to FourFourTwo magazine to mark the moment.

On television, he learned from mentor Des Lynam, before succeeding the legend after Lynam moved to ITV in 1999.

Gary Lineker's Italia 90 agony

England's Gary Lineker celebrates after scoring against Paraguay at the 1986 World Cup

Gary Lineker (Image credit: Alamy)

Before that, Lineker was one of the world’s finest strikers, netting more than 300 goals for club and country during a stellar career.

After making his name at boyhood club Leicester City, Lineker moved to Everton in 1985, before winning the golden boot at the 1986 World Cup, scoring six times to help England recover from a poor start and reach the quarter-finals.

Gary Lineker

Gary Lineker (Image credit: Getty Images)

After moving to Barcelona and then Tottenham Hotspur, Lineker lined up for the Three Lions once more at the 1990 World Cup in Italy.

He found the net just nine minutes into England’s opening game of the tournament against the Republic of Ireland, then converted two penalties as Bobby Robson’s side defeated Cameroon in the quarter-finals.

It put the national team into the semi-finals of a World Cup for the first time since 1966, and Lineker then bagged the equaliser against West Germany to take the last-four clash to a penalty shoot-out.

The forward scored his spot-kick, but Stuart Pearce and Chris Waddle both missed as England suffered an agonising defeat, allowing the Germans to progress to the final, where they beat Argentina.

Gary Lineker celebrates after scoring a penalty for England against Cameroon at the 1990 World Cup.

Lineker celebrates scoring (Image credit: Getty Images)

Lineker’s tally of 10 World Cup goals remains a record for an Englishman, but he still regards that West Germany defeat as the biggest blow of his career.

“That was the biggest disappointment,” he told FFT.

“You were so close, you almost had your hands on the trophy, because I think we would have had a real chance in the final, we were a really good side

“But we’ll never know. It’s the one thing I often look back on and think, ‘If only’, because winning a World Cup is football immortality. It’s forever.”

Chris Flanagan
Senior Staff Writer

Chris joined FourFourTwo in 2015 and has reported from 20 countries, in places as varied as Jerusalem and the Arctic Circle. He's interviewed Pele, Zlatan and Santa Claus (it's a long story), as well as covering the World Cup, Euro 2020 and the Clasico. He previously spent 10 years as a newspaper journalist, and completed the 92 in 2017.