FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. — U.S. men’s national team defender Chris Richards will miss the team’s first pre-World Cup friendly against Senegal as he continues to rehab an ankle injury, and his status for the tournament remains uncertain.When asked Saturday if he was confident that Richards would be ready for the World Cup, USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino shrugged, and said he had been asking the same question to his top assistant, Jesús Perez, and the team’s medical staff.Their answer, Pochettino said, was: “Wait, wait, wait, wait.”“It’s too early,” Pochettino said. “The next few days are going to be key, to see the possibility [if Richards will be] ready or not for the World Cup.”Richards suffered the injury on the penultimate weekend of the English Premier League season while playing for Crystal Palace. He missed the club’s last Premier League match against Arsenal, and then did not play in Wednesday’s UEFA Conference League final vs. Rayo Vallecano despite being named as a substitute. He was pictured running onto the field in celebration after Palace won the trophy in Leipzig.
Because of the Conference League final, Richards was the last of the USMNT’s 26 players to arrive at their pre-World Cup camp in Georgia. On Friday, he went from Atlanta’s airport to U.S. Soccer’s national training center, where the team is training, for medical evaluation.A day later, Pochettino said that Richards would not train on Saturday and would not travel to Charlotte for Sunday’s match against Senegal.“I think he needs to keep doing his rehab, and I think it’s much better to stay here, and plan to train and re-evaluate next week how he is,” Pochettino said.Pochettino and U.S. Soccer must submit a final World Cup roster to FIFA by Monday, June 1, but they can still replace a player due to injury up until 24 hours before the USMNT’s first game, which is June 12 at SoFi Stadium vs. Paraguay.Richards is the team’s top center back, and almost assured of a place in the U.S. starting 11 if healthy. If he were unable to play at the World Cup, an already-thin position would become a clear weakness.Richards’ uncertain status was perhaps one of the reasons that Pochettino named four other center backs to his 26-man roster — Mark McKenzie, Auston Trusty, Miles Robinson and captain Tim Ream — plus two fullbacks who can play on the right side of a back three, Joe Scally and Alex Freeman.At least two of those players will start Sunday against a Senegal team that features Sadio Mané, Bayern Munich’s Nicolas Jackson, Everton’s Iliman Ndiaye and Richards’ teammate at Palace, Ismaïla Sarr.Pochettino indicated that in general, he would not take any risks with players who aren’t fully fit on Sunday, and might play something less than his preferred starting 11.May 30, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports terms
