Chris Richards will not take part in the United States’ final World Cup tune-up friendly against Germany after his ankle injury failed to settle quickly enough for him to be cleared to compete, manager Mauricio Pochettino said on Friday.
Pochettino said Richards remains unfit to play and that the staff will reassess him in the coming days before deciding on his World Cup availability. The 26-man squad already includes five centre-backs, but Richards’ absence removes a potential option from the final rehearsal before the U.S. opens its group stage against Paraguay on June 12.
The timing sharpens the stakes. Richards injured his ankle in Crystal Palace’s second-to-last Premier League match against Brentford, missed Palace’s league finale against Arsenal and was unavailable for the Conference League final against Rayo Vallecano. He was also not available for the United States’ 3-2 win over Senegal last weekend, though he spent part of pre-World Cup camp rehabbing by himself and rejoined a training session with teammates on Wednesday.
Pochettino made clear he will not gamble on partial recoveries: he said the staff will not play anyone with even a minimal risk and that any player who starts or comes off the bench will be fully healthy. He added that the lengthening recovery timeline has frustrated him—recalling earlier information that suggested Richards might be able to feature in the Rayo Vallecano match—and that the delay has reduced certainty about the defender’s place in the World Cup plans.
The friction is visible between earlier optimism and the current caution. Crystal Palace coach Oliver Glasner had previously described Richards’ injury as torn ligaments and at one point suggested Richards could be involved in Palace’s late-season fixtures. That line of information fed hopes he might be available for the U.S. in Europe; instead, Pochettino said the expected timelines extended and left the player out of the Germany match.
Against Senegal, Pochettino deployed Mark McKenzie in the heart of a three-man central defense, with Tim Ream on the left and Alex Freeman providing cover and help in wider defensive phases and build-up. Those usages underscore the staff’s depth plan: Richards is one of five centre-backs in the 26-man roster, but the coaching team has already begun to shape the matchday mix without him.
Practically, the immediate consequence is straightforward: Richards will not play on Saturday in the final tune-up. The staff will complete another assessment in the next few days and then make a decision about his inclusion for competitive action in Qatar. The window between that reassessment and the June 12 opener is narrowing, which increases the burden on medical staff and coaching judgment.
The clearest unanswered question now is whether Richards can progress from training-ground involvement to full match fitness quickly enough to satisfy Pochettino’s no-minimum-risk standard. If the timeline stays extended, the team appears set to enter the World Cup with the centre-back group that featured against Senegal and in recent camp sessions; if Richards makes a late leap in recovery and passes the staff’s reassessment, he could still be cleared. Pochettino’s comments make the threshold explicit: any player selected to play will need to be healthy and 100% fit.
