FIFA World Cup 2026: Frustration Grows for Mauricio Pochettino as USA Star Chris Richards’ World Cup Fate Hangs in Balance After Ankle Injury

Mauricio Pochettino is frustrated by Chris Richards’ ongoing recovery from an ankle injury and said the defender’s chances of playing at the World Cup remains uncertain. Pochettino confirmed on Friday that Richards, a key part of his defense, will miss the USMNT’s final World Cup warm-up match against Germany.

He added that a decision on the Crystal Palace defender’s status will need to be made in the coming days. The United States will open its World Cup campaign against Paraguay at SoFi Stadium on June 12. By then, Richards will have been sidelined for a month after suffering an ankle injury during Crystal Palace’s penultimate EPL match of the season.

First Setback for USA

Since suffering the injury, Richards has missed Crystal Palace’s Europa Conference League final win as well as the United States’ warm-up matches against Senegal and Germany. Pochettino said he was “not happy” with the update he received about the defender’s recovery before finalizing his 26-man World Cup squad.

“When we decided on the squad list, we thought he could play in the Conference League final and that’s how we built the roster,” Pochettino said.

“At the time, the information we had suggested that he might be able to play in that final against Rayo Vallecano. In fact, he was on the bench, among the substitutes. Then we thought he might perhaps be available against Senegal, as well. But in the end, the timelines kept getting pushed back, and that frustrates me a bit.

“I’m not happy about it, because we know he’s an important player, of course we all know that. But when I talk about the information we were working with, sometimes there isn’t much clarity in the end.

“We can keep waiting and hoping that Chris will be available, but as you said, we may end up with a player who arrives [at the World Cup] without having competed. Then we have to decide whether he’s fit enough to compete or not, and there isn’t much time during the World Cup.”

Time to Reshuffle and Rearrange

Pochettino added: “Perhaps the information we had wasn’t the information we should have been relying on to make the best decisions. We don’t want to find ourselves in a situation where we reach the second match and the player isn’t available.”

Teams are allowed to make injury-related changes to their World Cup squads up to 24 hours before their opening match, giving Richards less than a week to show he is fit enough to play.

Richards suffered the injury on May 17, but there was some positive news on Friday in Chicago when he took part in the open portion of training with his teammates.

The defender, who missed the 2022 World Cup because of injury, had been working separately from the squad since arriving at camp.

“Maybe if tomorrow was the final of the World Cup he could play, but the advice of the medical team was to not play,’ Pochettino said. ‘He’s not ready to compete and to play… in the next few days we have the possibility to assess him and his ankle, then to make a decision.”