Trent Alexander-Arnold witnesses sickening KO at PFL Madrid – hours after England squad omission

Trent Alexander-Arnold was all smiles despite his England disappointment to witness Costello Van Steenis brutally dispatch Fabian Edwards at PFL Madrid.

The England right-back was a surprise omission from Thomas Tuchel’s 35-man squad for the upcoming friendlies against Uruguay and Japan.

PFL

PFL

Alexander-Arnold has won his place back in the Los Blancos team since recovering injury.

But he will play no part in the Three Lions’ next two fixtures later this month.

It means that the 27-year-old has been left out of Tuchel‘s last four squads, with his last outing for England coming in the 1-0 World Cup qualifying win away at Andorra in June 2025.

Speaking to talkSPORT, Tuchel revealed that he has failed to speak to the ex-Liverpool defender about his decision.

Despite his woe, Alexander-Arnold refused to let the news get the better of him as he was joined by a host of his Madrid teammates to attend PFL Madrid on Friday night.

Close friend Jude Bellingham was seen next to the two-time Premier League winner, with Vinicius Junior, Thibaut Courtois, David Alaba, Dani Ceballos, Antonio Rudiger, Arda Guler and Brahim Diaz also present.

And the star-studded VIPs were treated to a brilliant card which saw six knockouts from the 11 fights on the bill.

He’s the Van

The main event saw Van Steenis defend his PFL middleweight belt against Edwards in style.

British star Edwards, who is the younger brother of ex-UFC welterweight champion Leon, was out for revenge after losing to the 33-year-old on a split decision at Bellator Milan 2 in September 2020.

But he failed to claim the title after being stopped in the third round after being on the receiving end of ten unanswered elbows.

PFL

The 32-year-old was knocked out cold – sparking bedlam from the fans in attendance who were cheering on the Dutch-Spanish fighter.

Refusing to over-celebrate, Van Steenis went up to the ringside camera to say: “Best middleweight champion in the world.”

He was then quick to give his props to Edwards, who secured a shot at the title after beating Impa Kasanganay, Josh Silveira and Dalton Rosta in the 2025 PFL middleweight tournament.

Pointing over at Edwards, Van Steenis stated: “Tournament champion. He’s one of the best in the world as well.”

In his post-fight interview, he remarked: “We fought six years ago for the first time, man I hated this guy.

“But with all due respect, I don’t hate him at all, I just hated him for the sport because we had a bit of beef.

“But seriously guys, Fabian is one of the best fighters in the world, and so am I, it takes two people to make a good show.

“And Fabian can beat anybody in the world and it was just my lucky night.”