Trent Alexander-Arnold Returns to the England Squad for the First Time in Over a Year, and Cole Palmer Is Back Too After Their World Cup Snub

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Thomas Tuchel has recalled Trent Alexander-Arnold to the England squad for the first time in over a year, last capped in June 2025, and brought back Cole Palmer, for four Nations League games against Spain, Croatia and the Czech Republic.
The 27-man squad contains eight changes from the World Cup group that finished third in the summer, with Phil Foden left out again and uncapped Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott handed his first call-up.
Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho has used Alexander-Arnold in central midfield this season rather than his usual right-back position, where he is competing with summer signing Denzel Dumfries for a starting place.

Tuchel Says Neither Player “Did Something Wrong” as He Explains Two of Eight Changes to His World Cup Squad

Trent Alexander-Arnold last played for England in June 2025. On Friday, Thomas Tuchel put him back in the squad.

The Real Madrid right-back returns alongside Chelsea’s Cole Palmer, another high-profile absentee from England’s World Cup squad this summer, as Tuchel named a 27-man group for a three-week camp built around four Nations League fixtures against Spain, Croatia and the Czech Republic. England finished third at the World Cup.

“They had a good start to the season. They never did something wrong, we just chose different players. Now is a new competition,” Tuchel said of the two recalls. “Cole has his numbers back. Assists, decisive goals. I think he has a point to prove. The same goes for Trent. He was never non-selectable. Now is his chance to show, to come to camp and be the best version of himself. He comes as a right-back for us.”

A Recall Nobody Saw Coming

Tuchel’s explanation undersells how sharp a reversal this is. He previously said Alexander-Arnold was not the profile of right-back he wanted in his side, and repeatedly declined to select the 27-year-old even when Tino Livramento suffered a pre-World Cup injury and Tuchel had the chance to call up a replacement. Questions over the decision resurfaced when the England boss questioned the ability of his players to retain possession and control games under pressure without Alexander-Arnold in the squad.

“He needs to perform; it’s a competition,” Tuchel said. “He was not with us at the World Cup; we trusted other players, and I stick with that decision. It’s now time to fight for his place. He always said he’s up for the fight. It’s now up to him to prove. We have a long camp and I’m sure he’ll show up.”

Alexander-Arnold’s Real Madrid form has not made the decision to recall him an obvious one. He has one assist from five appearances this season, and Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho has used him in central midfield rather than at right-back, a switch forced by injuries elsewhere in the squad. His deployment there in the Champions League win over Inter Milan served as a reminder of the puzzle Real Madrid, and now England, are trying to solve with him: how to get the most from a player whose passing range remains among the best in Europe while his defensive game draws repeated questions. Mourinho has praised his application in the role while also noting how often he loses possession there and the physical demands it places on him. Last season, Alexander-Arnold was competing with Dani Carvajal for the right-back spot at Real Madrid. This season, it is summer signing Denzel Dumfries he must get past.

Eight Changes From a Third-Place Finish

Alongside Alexander-Arnold and Palmer, Everton defender Jarrad Branthwaite receives his first call-up of the Tuchel era, and there are recalls too for Lewis Hall, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Myles Lewis-Skelly. Liverpool’s 18-year-old winger Rio Ngumoha, who impressed in England’s World Cup warm-up fixtures over the summer, is called up for the first time, alongside uncapped Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott.

Manchester United’s Kobbie Mainoo keeps his place. He did not play a single minute of the World Cup as an unused squad member this summer.

Phil Foden is overlooked again, along with Morgan Gibbs-White and Adam Wharton. World Cup squad members Ollie Watkins, Ivan Toney and Noni Madueke have all dropped out of the group entirely, three forwards who traveled to the World Cup this summer and now find themselves outside Tuchel’s plans altogether. Reece James, John Stones, Djed Spence, Dan Burn, Jordan Henderson, Ben White and Dean Henderson are all absent through injury rather than selection, a list long enough to explain some of the eight changes on its own.

Taken together, the squad tells two stories at once. One is about the players recalled after being told, in effect, that they were not needed over the summer. The other is about a chunk of the World Cup squad now watching from home through injury, leaving Tuchel to rebuild parts of his group regardless of whether he wanted to. Branthwaite, Hall, Calvert-Lewin and Lewis-Skelly all fall into the first category, players Tuchel is choosing to bring back in rather than being forced to by circumstance, which is part of why their recalls have drawn less debate than Alexander-Arnold’s.

The full squad: Jordan Pickford, Jason Steele and James Trafford in goal; Alexander-Arnold, Branthwaite, Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Guehi, Hall, Ezri Konsa, Livramento, Nico O’Reilly and Jarrell Quansah in defense; Elliot Anderson, Jude Bellingham, Lewis-Skelly, Mainoo, Palmer, Declan Rice and Scott in midfield; and Calvert-Lewin, Eberechi Eze, Anthony Gordon, Harry Kane, Ngumoha, Marcus Rashford, Morgan Rogers and Bukayo Saka in attack.

A Better Squad Than the One That Went to the World Cup

Tuchel has faced criticism in the fallout from England’s World Cup exit to Argentina, and the scale of the changes he has made to this squad reads, to some, as an admission that his selections over the summer were wrong.

Sky Sports News chief correspondent Kaveh Solhekol said the changes show Tuchel has learned from those mistakes, though he stopped short of a full endorsement. “Tuchel has learnt from his mistakes in the summer with his World Cup squad because he has made a lot of changes with this squad,” Solhekol said. “As far as I’m concerned, Tuchel is still on the naughty step. I still haven’t forgiven him for what happened against Argentina. He still has it all to prove. But by looking at this squad, I think he is admitting he made some mistakes. This is a better and more balanced squad than he took to the World Cup.”

The Games That Will Decide the Fight for Places

England open the Nations League campaign at home to Spain on Saturday, September 26, before traveling to the Czech Republic three days later. A trip to Croatia follows on Saturday, October 3, with the return fixture against the Czech Republic at home on October 6 closing out the camp. Four games, three opponents, and a squad reshaped by eight changes in the space of one international break, all inside a single three-week window.

For Alexander-Arnold, the recall does not guarantee a starting place. Tuchel was clear that a spot in the squad is not the same as a spot in the team, and both he and Palmer will spend the next three weeks proving they belong in a group that already looks different from the one that traveled to the World Cup only months ago.

A Debate Tuchel Has Reopened Himself

Alexander-Arnold’s absence from the England squad became one of the more debated selection calls of Tuchel’s time in charge. The manager’s stated preference for a different profile of right-back meant Alexander-Arnold missed out even when Real Madrid form, at various points, made his omission harder to square. His recall now, with Denzel Dumfries also competing for his club spot, raises the question of what changed Tuchel’s mind with the World Cup already gone.

Tuchel did not present it as a reversal of his own logic. Instead, he described the recall as an open competition that both players would have to win over the course of the camp, rather than a guarantee of minutes against Spain, the Czech Republic or Croatia. Palmer, whose club form has picked up after a difficult stretch, faces the same test: a recall is an invitation back into the conversation, not a restored starting shirt.

What happens across the three-week camp, and the four games against Spain, the Czech Republic twice and Croatia inside it, will say more about Tuchel’s actual thinking than the squad list itself does. For two players who spent the World Cup watching from outside the group, simply being back in the room is the first step.

WRITTEN BY

Jarrod

Jarrod Partridge is the Founder of Futbol Chronicle and an accredited journalist with over 30 years of experience following international football. A member of the AIPS International Sports Press Association, Jarrod has covered matches at stadiums around the world, bringing first-hand insight to every match report, player profile, and tactical analysis he writes.