“Hang your head in shame” - Luke Littler left stunned as Gary Lineker beats him in Netflix darts challenge
PDCMonday, 29 June 2026 at 13:30
Luke Littler has lost to Luke Humphries on the Madison Square Garden stage and Gary Lineker in a Netflix darts challenge during a wild few days in New York.
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The 19-year-old finished runner-up at the US Darts Masters after an 8-7 final defeat to Humphries, before watching England beat Panama 2-0 at the World Cup. Littler then appeared in the New York studio for The Rest Is Football on Netflix, where Lineker, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards have been fronting a nightly show during the tournament.
There, the back-to-back world darts champion was put through the programme’s speed darts challenge with Lineker and former Manchester United midfielder Juan Mata watching on. For Littler, a well-known United fan, the presence of the Spaniard added another layer to a challenge that already had plenty of room for embarrassment.
Lineker sat top of the leaderboard with 327 points before Littler stepped up. The world champion finished on 293, leaving him behind not only Lineker, but also golfer Ian Poulter, TV chef Gordon Ramsay, and former international footballers Frank Lampard and Ally McCoist.
Littler fails to catch Lineker
Lineker introduced the challenge by joking: “This is darts, Luke. So what you do, you stand on this thing called the oche.” Littler replied: “Okay, no pressure.”
The early scoring was messy by Littler’s standards, with Lineker adding from the side: “No pressure, Luke.” As the clock ticked down, Littler was told: “Five seconds. You’ve got one more go. Quick.”
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After the final darts had landed, Lineker dragged out the score reveal. “World Cup of Darts champion, Luke Littler. Luke ‘The Nuke’, here we go,” he said. “I can reveal your score. It ends in a three. The middle number is a nine. Yeah, and that’s a two.”
Littler knew immediately. “I knew it. It didn’t feel good.”
Littler was beaten by Luke Humphries in the final of the 2026 US Darts Masters
“Hang your head in shame”
The final score of 293 left Littler short of Lineker’s 327, and also below Poulter’s 317, Ramsay’s 303, and the 298s posted by Lampard and McCoist. Lineker could not resist the punchline. “Oh my goodness me. This is, well, quite something,” he said. “Wow. Hang your head in shame, man.”
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Littler took it in good spirit, replying: “I will.”
It added another unlikely twist to Littler’s New York stay. At the US Darts Masters, he had averaged north of 102 in a 6-1 demolition of Jim Long and then beaten James Wade 7-4 before falling just short against Humphries in the final.
On Netflix, though, the leaderboard told a different story. Lineker kept top spot, Mata watched on, and Littler left the studio with a rare darts defeat to a former England striker.
Kieran WoodDarts Journalist
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He contributes to DartsNews.com, where he covers professional darts through news, match reports, analysis, and live coverage across the PDC calendar and major tournaments.
A key part of his work is on-site reporting from leading events. Kieran has covered the PDC World Darts Championship in person, reporting daily from the venue and providing first-hand insight from the tournament. During his coverage, he has conducted interviews with leading players including Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, and Gerwyn Price.
He is also one of the leading voices of the English-language Dartsnews Podcast, contributing regular analysis and discussion on developments across the professional darts circuit.
In his reporting, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles when new, verified information becomes available.
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- Well nobody made him bet!! It's his own fault,if wants to lose money,then he shouldn't call Gerwyn out! He averaged 103,I would think the losing betting idiot could average 40! If you don't want to risk losing,keep your money in your pocket!rick6728-06-2026
- A great female line up this year, it would be nice to see Gemma win, but Beau is too good. Although the most important lady is missing....Lorraine Winstanley! You can't have a major tournament with out Lorraine Winstanley!! My dream is to see Lorraine hit a nine darter, run off the stage and out of the building with Dean.richieburnettrocks25-06-2026
- Laura looking fantastic and obviously has a hidden talent as a dart player. It was so nice to see her shock and joy of hitting that triple 20 I miss Laura, she was excellent and very knowledgeable regarding darts. Can you imagine that dozy wooden air head Emma Paton from SKY being able to do that, she'd hold the dart the wrong way round.richieburnettrocks25-06-2026
- Otherwise known as The Fishmedinabello24-06-2026
- No disrespect... but when folks are as good as Littler, they only play in the events that mean something... not the small events. MVG and Humpheries do the same.MrYnyslas197123-06-2026
- Read this Mr littler,and I hope you don't suffer as smith has. Still,now you pick when you want to play. I think the ££££s have kicked inrick6722-06-2026
- I understand that the darts diary is packed, but people do actually pay to watch. I suppose that the prize money,or title,is enough anymore. I actually feel sorry for the players who get called up as replacements,call me stupid,but if you're not considered good enough initially,then why compete?rick6720-06-2026
- What is he talking about? In loads of sports they have qualification as early rounds, look at any tennis slam or snooker majors.mikedarts12-06-2026
- Standard is better people saymedinabello11-06-2026
- I'm going to Bremen can't wait to experience these mega galas.medinabello11-06-2026
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