Why is Trent Alexander-Arnold not playing for England at the World Cup?

England are in North America for the 2026 World Cup this summer, but multiple big names are missing from the squad.

Alongside Cole Palmer and Phil Foden, Trent Alexander-Arnold missed out on a place in Thomas Tuchel‘s 26-man set-up.

AFP

The Real Madrid right-back has earned 34 Three Lions caps throughout his international career so far, however, he hasn’t played for his country in over a year.

His last appearance came against Andorra in June 2025, with Tuchel not selecting him for a squad since then.

And his consistent snubbing eventually led to him not being named in England’s squad for the World Cup.

Tino Livramento’s World Cup ending injury saw a glimmer of hope for Alexander-Arnold to be called up late but Chelsea’s Trevoh Chalobah got the pick instead.

Why is Alexander-Arnold not playing for England?

Alexander-Arnold did not make it into Tuchel’s selection for the tournament in North America this summer.

He didn’t even make it into the bumper 35-man squad for England’s final friendlies back home before travelling to the US.

Tuchel was asked about his decision to leave the former Liverpool right-back and other stars such as Foden, Palmer and Harry Maguire behind after announcing his squad in May.

The German said: “Difficult, difficult calls as I respect all of them.

“All of them have been in camp with us, they have been excellent, they all deserved a call-up.

Getty

“To reduce the 55 was difficult, sometimes painfully difficult…I felt the emotion on the calls.

“I called all the players who were with us on a camp…a lot of them deserved to be with us.”

He then explained his choice further, hinting that Alexander-Arnold didn’t stand a real chance, having not been called up in the camps leading up to the World Cup.

“We rely heavily on the group that was with us in these three camps…does that mean the others aren’t good enough? No,” he added.

“Some were a positional thing…these tough decisions had to be made before the tournament to not carry them through the tournament and even if it’s painful for some, I think it was right.”

Alexander-Arnold played 30 games for Real Madrid in all competitions this season after joining for free from Liverpool.

He featured 21 times in La Liga, as the Spanish giants were beaten to the title by bitter rivals Barcelona.

The 27-year-old also played nine games in the Champions League, providing one of his five total assists in Europe.

England will look to make a strong start to the World Cup when they take on Croatia in their Group L opener in Dallas tonight.

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