Chris Richards' World Cup Chances in Doubt Due to Ankle Injury

Chris Richards will watch from the sidelines when the United States face Germany in their final World Cup warm-up. Mauricio Pochettino made that clear on Friday — and with it, the defender’s place at the tournament slipped firmly into doubt.

“He’s still not ready to compete and play,” Pochettino said, outlining a picture that grows more complicated by the day. The staff will reassess in the coming days, but time is draining away fast.

Richards’ problem began not with the national team, but in Crystal Palace colors. He damaged his ankle in the club’s penultimate Premier League match against Brentford, tearing ligaments according to Palace manager Oliver Glasner. That was enough to rule him out of the league finale against Arsenal and keep him off the pitch for the Conference League final against Rayo Vallecano.

At first, the prognosis sounded brighter. Glasner suggested before the Arsenal game that Richards might be available for that European final, and reports around the player’s camp painted a confident picture about his readiness for the summer. That optimism fed into Pochettino’s own expectations.

On Friday, the U.S. coach admitted he believed Richards would be closer to full fitness based on those signals from London. The defender even made the bench for the Conference League final, a detail that only heightened the sense he was nearing a return.

Instead, the recovery has dragged. The World Cup has not waited.

Pochettino now stares at a shrinking window between this friendly against Germany and the group-stage opener on 12 June against Paraguay. Every day Richards spends in the gym or on a side pitch is a day lost in preparation for a tournament in which he was expected to be a cornerstone of the back line.

“There was a line of information where we were thinking that he could play that final against Rayo Vallecano in Conference League,” Pochettino said in Spanish. “He was on the bench of subs, you remember? After that, [we thought] he could maybe be [involved] against Senegal. In the end, the timelines [are] lengthening and [it] angers me a bit. I’m not happy, because we know Chris Richards is an important player. Of course we all know it.”

The frustration is easy to understand. While his teammates have ramped up through camp, Richards has been largely isolated, working alone as the World Cup draws near.

At the National Training Center on Wednesday, there was at least a glimpse of progress. As the main group went through their familiar pre-session routines — stretching circles, sharp rondos, the rhythm of a squad locking in — Richards appeared on an adjacent field. No contact drills, no full sprints. Just him, two trainers, resistance bands and carefully managed lateral movement. It was rehabilitation, not preparation.

Pochettino’s stance on risk could not be clearer.

“We are never going to take a decision to play with some player that [has a] minimum risk,” he said. “We prefer to not take [a] risk. That’s why all of the players that are going to start, or players that’s going to come from the bench, it’s because they are healthy, and they are 100% fit to play.”

That conservative approach shapes the entire defensive picture.

With Richards unavailable for last weekend’s 3-2 win over Senegal, Mark McKenzie anchored the middle of a back three. Tim Ream stepped out from the left, breaking lines with his passing, while Alex Freeman operated as an “elbow back,” dropping deeper in defensive phases and sliding wide to help in the build-up. It was a different configuration, but it held.

This is where Pochettino’s roster construction comes into focus. He named a 26-man squad heavy on defenders, with five natural center-backs and several wide players capable of sliding inside. That depth gives him tactical flexibility and reduces the need to find a like-for-like replacement if Richards cannot go. The unit has already logged valuable minutes together, building chemistry that might have to carry them through the group stage.

Still, the clock is merciless. World Cup regulations allow medically related squad changes up to 24 hours before a team’s first group match. For the United States, that means Pochettino has until 11 June to decide whether Richards remains in his plans or yields his place to a fully fit alternative.

“In the end, we can hope that Chris can be there,” Pochettino said. “But in the end, we’re going to find ourselves with a player who’s coming without competing [for a month] and after, we have to make the decision if he’s in form to compete or not. And there’s not a lot of time [until] the World Cup.”

Hope remains. So does reality: a key defender, an uncooperative ankle, and a tournament that refuses to slow down for anyone.