England manager Thomas Tuchel has recalled Trent Alexander-Arnold and Cole Palmer to the Three Lions squad for the opening four matches of the 2026-27 UEFA Nations League.

Tuchel named a 27-man squad on Friday, September 18, making eight changes to the group that represented England at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Alexander-Arnold, who now plays for Spanish giants Real Madrid, returns to the squad alongside club teammate Jude Bellingham, while Chelsea forward Palmer has also been brought back after missing the World Cup squad.

Several other players have returned following the commencement of the new club season, including Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Lewis Hall, Rio Ngumoha, Jarrad Branthwaite, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Alex Scott.

England will open their Nations League campaign against newly crowned world champions Spain at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, September 26.

The Group A3 encounter is scheduled to kick off at 7.45pm BST.

Tuchel’s side will then travel to Prague three days later to face Czechia at the Fortuna Arena on Tuesday, September 29. The match will also begin at 7.45pm BST.

The Three Lions will remain on the road for their third fixture of the international window when they take on Croatia in Rijeka on Saturday, October 3.

The encounter at the Stadium HNK Rijeka is scheduled for 5pm BST and will be played behind closed doors following a UEFA sanction.

England will round off the four-match window by hosting Czechia at Wembley on Tuesday, October 6, with kick-off set for 7.45pm BST.

The squad is expected to assemble at St George’s Park early next week to begin preparations for the demanding run of Nations League fixtures.

The four matches represent the first four of England’s six group games in League A, Group 3.

Following the October fixtures, England will host Croatia on November 12 before travelling to Spain for the final group fixture on November 15.

England squad for Nations League
Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford (Everton), Jason Steele (Brighton & Hove Albion), James Trafford (Leeds United).

Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Real Madrid), Jarrad Branthwaite (Everton), Trevoh Chalobah (Como), Marc Guéhi (Manchester City), Lewis Hall (Newcastle United), Ezri Konsa (Arsenal), Tino Livramento (Newcastle United), Nico O’Reilly (Manchester City), Jarell Quansah (Bayer Leverkusen).

Midfielders: Elliot Anderson (Manchester City), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Myles Lewis-Skelly (Arsenal), Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Alex Scott (AFC Bournemouth).

Forwards: Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Leeds United), Eberechi Eze (Arsenal), Anthony Gordon (Barcelona), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Rio Ngumoha (Liverpool), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Morgan Rogers (Chelsea), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal).

The return of Alexander-Arnold and Palmer adds further attacking and creative options to Tuchel’s squad as England begin their campaign against a Spain side that recently claimed the World Cup.

The Nations League fixtures will also give Tuchel an opportunity to assess his squad ahead of the remainder of the international calendar and the final two group matches in November.

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho has criticised Spain’s refereeing appointment committee following his side’s 2-1 defeat to Atletico Madrid in Sunday’s La Liga Madrid derby.

The defeat at the Metropolitano Stadium saw Real Madrid drop to third position in the league table, six points behind unbeaten leaders Barcelona, as their title challenge suffered another setback.

Mourinho was particularly unhappy with two first-half incidents involving Atletico players Cristian Romero and Lee Kang-in, insisting that both challenges on Jude Bellingham and Federico Valverde respectively should have resulted in red cards.

Rather than focus solely on his team’s performance, the Portuguese coach used his post-match press conference to launch a strong criticism of the Spanish refereeing system.

“We could skip the press conference because the story of the match is right here,” Mourinho told reporters while holding up a printed sheet containing images of the incidents he was unhappy with.

“They were two clear red cards,” he added.
According to Mourinho, referee Miguel Angel Ortiz Arias struggled to cope with the atmosphere and pressure inside the Metropolitano Stadium.

He also questioned the decision of Spain’s refereeing appointment committee, known as the CTA, to appoint Ortiz Arias for such a high-profile fixture.

“The ones who should be really happy are the referee appointment committee, because everything was very strange,” Mourinho said.

“They assign a referee who, at 41, has never been an international referee, so it’s clearly not because he’s a great referee.”

Mourinho also raised concerns over the appointment of Daniel Trujillo as the Video Assistant Referee, claiming that the VAR official had a previous “history” with Real Madrid.

“This combination… a referee, a poor referee, who has only done tiny little matches, and a VAR official with a big history… well, congratulations to the referee appointment committee,” the coach said.

Real Madrid themselves were reduced to 10 men early in the second half after Dean Huijsen was sent off following a foul on Atletico forward Giuliano Simeone, with the incident also resulting in a penalty.

Mourinho said he had not seen the incident involving Huijsen clearly enough to give an assessment of the red card.

The defeat adds to a long-running dispute between Real Madrid and Spanish football authorities over refereeing.

In February 2025, Real Madrid formally complained about Spanish refereeing to the Spanish football federation, describing the system as “rigged” and “completely discredited.” The club’s television channel has also regularly criticised refereeing decisions involving the team.

Despite the defeat, Mourinho praised his players for their first-half performance, even though Real Madrid struggled to create significant chances in a largely uneventful opening 45 minutes.

“They played a first half of great quality, of great personality,” Mourinho said.

The Portuguese coach maintained that Real Madrid remain capable of competing for the La Liga title, but argued that the team must be allowed to compete on equal terms.

“If they leave us in peace and calm, if they let us compete on equal terms with everyone, there’s still a long way to go,” he said.

Real Madrid will now look to recover from the derby defeat as the race for the La Liga title continues, with Barcelona maintaining their unbeaten start and Madrid needing to close the gap at the top of the table.

Manchester City moved to the top of the Premier League table in dramatic fashion on Sunday, defeating Sunderland 5-3 in a thrilling encounter at the Etihad Stadium.

Enzo Fernandez opened the scoring for City just nine minutes into the match with a curling free-kick that caught Sunderland goalkeeper Robin Roefs off guard.

The Argentina international, who joined City from Chelsea for a reported £125 million ($167 million) on transfer deadline day, marked his debut with his first goal for the club.

Sunderland responded almost immediately, with Brian Brobbey equalising in the 12th minute after receiving a pass from Enzo Le Fee before calmly finishing past Gianluigi Donnarumma.

City regained the lead in the 29th minute when Rayan Cherki capitalised on Sunderland’s failure to clear the danger, prodding the ball into the net.

However, Sunderland continued to exploit gaps in City’s defence. Brobbey scored his second goal in the 33rd minute after Le Fee and Thomas Meunier combined to create the opportunity.

The goal was subjected to a three-minute VAR review for a possible offside before it was eventually awarded.

City restored their advantage shortly before half-time when Antoine Semenyo fired home in the 43rd minute.

Marc Guehi stumbled while attempting to reach Cherki’s pass, allowing the ball to fall kindly for Semenyo, who made no mistake from close range.

Semenyo struck again seven minutes after the restart, producing a composed finish from another Cherki pass to put City 4-2 ahead.

Sunderland refused to surrender, though, and Brobbey completed his hat-trick in the 54th minute.

Nilson Angulo’s pass was already heading towards the goal, but Brobbey ensured there was no chance of a clearance by tapping the ball home to reduce the deficit to one goal.

The frantic contest continued, with City coming close to conceding an equaliser after Ruben Dias inadvertently directed the ball towards his own goal before recovering to clear the danger.

Erling Haaland finally settled City’s nerves in the 81st minute, scoring at the far post to make it 5-3 and secure all three points.

The goal was Haaland’s seventh in six games this season.

The victory extended City’s perfect start to the campaign and made them the only team remaining in the Premier League with a 100 per cent record.

City now sit three points clear of defending champions Arsenal at the top of the table heading into the international break.

The result also continued what has been an impressive beginning to life for manager Enzo Maresca following his appointment as Pep Guardiola’s successor.

Guardiola departed City at the end of last season after an era in which he delivered 20 trophies, leaving Maresca with the difficult task of maintaining the club’s dominance.

City have now scored 13 goals in their opening five league matches. However, the eight-goal thriller also exposed defensive weaknesses that Maresca will need to address, particularly with Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain awaiting City immediately after the international break.

Despite conceding three goals, City’s attacking display ensured they maintained their perfect start and returned to the summit of the Premier League.