Alexander-Arnold must ‘prove himself’ for England, says Tuchel

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

Thomas Tuchel has called on Trent Alexander-Arnold to “prove himself” for England after receiving a recall to the national team.

Alexander-Arnold and Cole Palmer were the notable returnees to the Three Lions squad, while Jarrad Branthwaite, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Lewis Hall and Myles Lewis-Skelly also received recalls.

The Real Madrid defender has won 34 caps for England, though missed out on a spot in their World Cup squad earlier this year.

His most recent appearance for England came in June 2025, as he struggled for form under Xabi Alonso and Alvaro Arbeloa at Madrid last season.

With Reece James and Ben White both missing out through injury, Tuchel believes Alexander-Arnold has the chance to prove his worth at right-back.

“[He needs to] perform, that’s just what it is,” said Tuchel on Alexander-Arnold.

“It is a competition and I understand the question because he was not with us at the World Cup. We trusted other players.

“I still stick with this decision and it is now time to fight for his place. He always said he is up for a fight, he always said he is up to fight for his place, especially for England so it is on him to prove himself and he is more than welcome in camp.

“We have a long camp and I am sure he will show up.”

Returning to represent the #ThreeLions 

— England (@England) September 18, 2026

After finishing third at the World Cup, England’s best performance at the competition since 1966, when they won the tournament, Tuchel will now lead the Three Lions into their Nations League campaign.

Across the extended international break, England will face reigning World Cup and Euros champions Spain, as well as Czechia twice and Croatia.

Tuchel believes the motivation levels in the squad are high as they target Nations League success.

“Next match is against the reigning world champions, Spain,” added Tuchel.

“We feel the gap is closing, we feel we are close, we want to prove a point, stadium is sold out and the motivation cannot be any higher.

“The target is to go all the way now in Nations League. If we go all the way to the final four, we have another 10 matches, six matches are safe in the Nations League but we want to make it 10 matches to create another cycle.”

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