Alexander-Arnold desperate to win back England place after World Cup snub

Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.

Trent Alexander-Arnold insists he will never turn his back on England and wants to use his World Cup omission as fuel in his bid to return to the Three Lions’ setup.

Alexander-Arnold was left out of Thomas Tuchel’s 26-man squad for this summer’s tournament in North America, after a difficult debut season with Real Madrid.  

Having joined Los Blancos on a free transfer from Liverpool last year, Alexander-Arnold was limited to 30 appearances in 2025-26, eight of which came from the bench.

Injuries and poor form have restricted his impact in the Spanish capital to date, and despite getting a full pre-season while many of his club-mates were at the World Cup, Alexander-Arnold was benched for Saturday’s season-opening win over Espanyol in LaLiga.

Jose Mourinho opted to field new recruit Denzel Dumfries at right-back instead, while Reece James, Ezri Konsa and Djed Spence all had minutes in the position for England at the World Cup, as they took the bronze medal to record their best-ever finish on foreign soil.

But Alexander-Arnold will not give up on his England ambitions ahead of a home European Championship campaign in 2028.

“Until I retire, I’m still an England player, whether I’m selected or not,” Alexander-Arnold told the Mirror. 

“I’m always available if and when the manager needs me. There’s no bigger honour.

“I want to use it as fuel to get back into England squads and then back into an England shirt. That’s an aim of mine and I hope to achieve it.”

Alexander-Arnold left Liverpool on a sour note after running down his contract with his boyhood club, and he says he still receives online abuse from the Reds’ fans, more than a year after his departure.

He hopes his decision to seek a new challenge in Spain will eventually be understood by the Anfield faithful, though.  

“The booing and disappointment from Liverpool supporters is something I’m absolutely able to shoulder. I can understand it, in my own way,” he said.

“But I hope one day there’ll be a degree of understanding about the decisions I wanted to make around my own life.

“It hurts because of how much I’ve put into the club over the course of 20 years and the sacrifices I made for the club during that period.”

Alexander-Arnold will hope to make his first start of the season when Madrid host Real Sociedad on Wednesday, with another home game – versus Malaga – to come next Sunday.

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