Excluding Trent Alexander-Arnold and other stars from England roster places even more pressure on manager Thomas Tuchel
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Excluding Trent Alexander-Arnold and other stars from England roster places even more pressure on manager Thomas Tuchel originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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It takes a lot of letters to spell out the whole of Trent Alexander-Arnold’s name, but that seems not to be the reason England could not fit him on their roster for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Being left off the squad for a major tournament makes this the lowest point of his time with the Three Lions (or not, as it turns out), but there's always been some disconnect when it comes to him and international soccer. It’s possible no player this accomplished ever had a more meager England career than the guy often referred to as “TAA” for reasons already mentioned.
He is not alone as a big-name player left out of the England squad. Manager Thomas Tuchel did not invite Manchester United defenders Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw, Manchester City playmaker Phil Foden, Nottingham Forest midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White and, most strikingly, forward Cole Palmer, a hero at Euro 2024 and of Chelsea’s triumph in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.
There were enough presumably obvious choices excluded that Tuchel placed himself in a position that England better win the tournament or come bloody close.
“Teams win championships,” Tuchel said at Friday’s press conference. “From day one, we were very clear that we are trying to select and build the best possible team, which is not necessarily to select and collect the 26 most talented players.”
Selecting the wrong players, though, can wreck that mission before it begins.
A 27-year-old right back, Alexander-Arnold was one of the most important players on Liverpool FC teams that won two Premier League titles, the UEFA Champions League once (and reached three finals), the Club World Cup, the FA Cup and the EFL Cup. He was named to the Premier League’s PFA Team of the Year in 2019, 2020 and 2022, the Champions League Team of the Season in 2019 and 2022 and the FIFPro World11 in 2020.
All of that convinced Spanish superclub Real Madrid they had to have him, and yet England casually cast him aside.
Madrid wanted him badly enough to pay an $11.4 million transfer fee to Liverpool merely to gain an early release that allowed him to play in last summer’s Club World Cup. Alexander-Arnold was out of contract and available for free in another few weeks.
In fairness, they didn’t wind up understanding how to use him, either. He made only 14 starts in Real Madrid’s uninspiring 2025/26 season, earning four assists.
When he played, though, especially of late, he continued to send in crosses at an impressive rate, and that uncommon ability – and his facility for free kicks – might have been of use were England to find itself trailing in a crucial World Cup game.
He is not an exceptional defender, but his ability to cover ground, to connect with the midfielders and forwards deployed ahead of him and to force those opponents who wish to attack to wind up defending instead can be game-changing. There are a lot of reasons Liverpool’s attack declined following TAA’s departure (from 86 goals to 62 with one game remaining), but his contributions may be foremost on that list. And for all the discussion of his issues on defense, LFC has allowed 11 more goals without him.
With Gareth Southgate in charge of England, Alexander-Arnold waited for years behind Manchester City star Kyle Walker, whose speed and elite understanding of the game made him an ideal right back for club and country. When Walker began to lose his pace by Euro 2024, though, Southgate kept him at right back and tried to deploy Alexander-Arnold in a defensive midfield spot. It didn’t work.
Only in UEFA Nations League play under interim manager Lee Carsley was Alexander-Arnold granted a clear chance to play his preferred position. He went 90 minutes at right back against Ireland, Greece and twice against Finland, earning an assist and a goal as the Three Lions went 3-1. He was straight back on the bench after Tuchel was hired.
Alexander-Arnold now stands at 34 caps since making his England debut at age 19, in a pre-World Cup friendly against Costa Rica. He appeared in one game at Russia 2018, one at Qatar 2022, and it’ll be none at whatever shorthand term is applied to this year’s tournament.
North America 2026?
Regardless, TAA will not be here.
That was Tuchel’s choice, and it could wind up being his mistake. Possibly one of many.