Former Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold is viewed as one of the best defenders in the world, but he will not play for England at this summer's World Cup
11:43, 22 May 2026
Trent Alexander-Arnold is not playing at the World Cup
Trent Alexander-Arnold is not playing at the World Cup(Image: Getty Images)
Trent Alexander-Arnold was not spotted at Real Madrid training on Friday, having been left out of England's World Cup squad.
Three Lions boss Thomas Tuchel has named his 26-man group for the tournament, which will be played across the United States, Canada and Mexico in June and July. Alexander-Arnold's name was nowhere to be seen when the squad list emerged on Friday.
Djed Spence, who is at risk of suffering relegation with Tottenham, is among those who have been picked ahead of Alexander-Arnold. The former Liverpool star's omission isn't a massive surprise, considering he hasn't played for England for almost a year.
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Yet the news will still be a blow for Alexander-Arnold, who has cemented himself as Madrid's first-choice right-back in recent weeks. Guillermo Rai, a reporter for The Athletic, was at Madrid training on Friday and confirmed Alexander-Arnold was missing due to a virus.
Despite being regarded as one of the best right-backs on the planet, Alexander-Arnold has struggled to nail down a spot in England's starting XI. There have been question marks over his defensive ability, while competition for the right-back spot remains intense.
Although Kyle Walker has now retired from international duty, the likes of Reece James and Tino Livramento continue to impress in the role. Livramento and Spence are also used to playing at left-back when required, something Alexander-Arnold is not.
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Tuchel did not directly speak about Alexander-Arnold's omission during his press conference on Friday, but he did explain his thought process behind assembling the 26-man squad.
He said: "The squad has a significant number of players that will compete for starting minutes and starting places, that also gives us the chance to rotate on a high level and a significant number of players who carry the sportive responsibility on the highest level.
"We have a huge chunk of youthfulness in the squad. We have six players who have won titles with the U21s. We have Kobbie (Mainoo), who is still young and has won his titles. We have Nico O'Reilly on top, who is young and already won his medals. We have specialists with us, specialists for all kinds of different scenarios, when we are leading, when we are chasing a game, a result.
"We've always said we want to be a strong set-piece team, so we have specialists for that, and we want to be a strong penalty team, we have specialists for that."
Tuchel also referred to the players who didn't make the squad. He said: "It is important for me to say that I am very grateful to all the players who have helped us qualify, to the players who have had one of six camps with us.
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"Very grateful and I tried to show my respect and appreciation for what they have done, in telling them in person or phone calls in the last three days about my decision.
"So I called every player that was at least once with us, personally, to tell them my decision, even if it was a painful decision or it was a disappointing message.
"We believe it has to be delivered from me. I will not go into details, of course, but I tried to explain and express my appreciation and respect for the player."