Richards Sidelined by Ankle Injury Ahead of USMNT World Cup Opener
Richards Sidelined by Ankle Injury Ahead of USMNT World Cup Opener
United States men’s national team center back Chris Richards will not travel for Sunday’s pre-tournament friendly against Senegal in Charlotte, North Carolina, as he continues rehabilitation for an ankle injury sustained at Crystal Palace. Manager Mauricio Pochettino confirmed Richards is remaining at the USMNT’s training facility in Atlanta rather than joining his teammates for the match.
Richards has not yet trained with the squad since the tournament roster was assembled, and Pochettino offered no firm timetable for his return. “The next few days are going to be key to see the possibilities to be ready or not for the World Cup,” Pochettino said, as reported by the New York Post. The injury kept Richards out of Crystal Palace’s final two matches of the club season. He was present for the club’s European final in Germany but did not play, and was absent from the USMNT’s 26-man roster announcement in New York City, contributing a video message instead.
Richards’s fitness is particularly significant at center back, a position for which U.S. roster depth is limited. The squad has one further pre-tournament friendly against Germany before opening World Cup Group D play against Paraguay on June 12 in Los Angeles. FIFA regulations allow injury-related roster substitutions up to 24 hours before a team’s first match, meaning Richards’s place on the 26-man squad is not immediately at risk.
After the Paraguay opener, the United States face Australia in Seattle on June 19 and close group-stage play against Türkiye on June 25 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. Whether Richards recovers in time to feature from the start of the tournament remains, by Pochettino’s own account, an open question.
