Ted Lasso delivers major, long-awaited football cameo

Following in the footsteps of Thierry Henry, Gary Lineker and Chris Kamara, another star of the football world made a cameo in this week’s episode.

By James Hibbs

Published: Wednesday, 24 May 2023 at 12:00 am

**WARNING – CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR TED LASSO SEASON 3 EPISODE 11**

There were plenty of big revelations in this week’s penultimate episode of Ted Lasso season 3, but if you’re a Manchester City fan, you may have been most captivated by a certain cameo appearance.

That’s right, in the episode which saw AFC Richmond take on and beat Man City, after their crushing defeat against the team in season 2, Pep Guardiola made a cameo as himself.

First seen on the sidelines watching his team play, Guardiola then shook Ted’s hand at the end of the episode, telling him “good game, congratulations”.

When Ted told Guardiola he’s a tough guy to beat, the Man City manager responded: “Nah, don’t worry about wins or losses. Just help these guys be the best version of themselves on and off the pitch. This, at the end, is the most important thing.”

"Pep
Pep Guardiola.
Alex Livesey – Danehouse/Getty Images

Coach Beard and Ted both then freaked out together, starstruck by Guardiola, who was meanwhile having a catch-up with Phil Dunster’s Jamie Tartt, who played for Man City at the end of season 1.

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Guardiola isn’t the only major figure from the footballing world to play themselves in the series. Thierry Henry, Gary Lineker, Chris Kamara, Jeff Stelling, Chris Powell and Arlo White have all made appearances across the show’s run so far.

However, Guardiola’s cameo was particularly long-awaited, after Ted star Jason Sudeikis has spoken about his love for the coach in multiple interviews over the years.

It remains to be seen whether Ted Lasso will return for a fourth season, but if it ends here as has been frequently hinted at by multiple cast members, Guardiola could be the last major cameo seen on the series – barring a surprise appearance in next week’s finale.

Whatever happens, Nate star Nick Mohammed has teased that “there’s a certain element of catharsis the way this season ends” – although he added that he would “love” for the show to continue in some form.