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USMNT’s World Cup Hopes Rocked After Star Player Stretchered Off

The Stars and Stripes’ injury woes worsened with the World Cup just six months away.

Amanda Langell

Chris Richards (center) could not continue in the Carabao Cup quarterfinals.
Chris Richards (center) could not continue in the Carabao Cup quarterfinals. / Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images

U.S. men’s national team defender Chris Richards was stretched off the pitch in Crystal Palace’s Carabao Cup defeat to Arsenal on Tuesday evening.

After a battle in the air with Gabriel Jesus, the American defender appeared in massive discomfort following an inconspicuous landing. Richards immediately went to ground and signaled for assistance.

The Eagles’ medical staff tended to the 25-year-old, who appeared to have a nasty gash on his right foot. Richards’s boot was soon discarded and his foot heavily bandaged before he left the pitch on a stretcher.

The substitution came in the 75th minute, and fellow Crystal Palace defender Maxence Lacroix scored an own goal just five minutes later. The visitors would go on to bag a stoppage time equalizer through Marc Guéhi to force a penalty shootout.

Richards could do nothing but sit and watch his team go through eight rounds of penalties before Lacroix missed to hand Arsenal the 8–7 victory in the shootout. The Eagles’ dreams of lifting their first Carabao Cup were dashed under the lights at the Emirates.

Richards Injury Could Spell Disaster for USMNT

Mauricio Pochettino
Question marks could surround Mauricio Pochettino’s backline. / Rich Storry/Getty Images

Along with Crystal Palace, the USMNT will be sweating over Richards’s fitness. The center back would be an irreplaceable loss to Mauricio Pochettino’s backline should he be sidelined for a significant period.

Richards is in line to start for the Stars and Stripes at the 2026 FIFA World Cup alongside veteran Tim Ream in central defense. The host nation, who recently just lost Tyler Adams to a significant knee injury, will need their strongest XI healthy and available if they want to make a run in next summer’s tournament, unfolding largely on home soil.

The good news, though, is that Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner did not seem to think the injury was a long-term problem for Richards.

“It doesn’t look so bad. I don’t know if it’s possible for him on Sunday [to face Tottenham Hotspur], but hopefully in the new year, he is back,” the 51-year-old said following the Carabao Cup quarterfinals. Glasner revealed the defender needed stitches in his foot after picking up a knock in the match.

Both Crystal Palace and the USMNT will closely monitor Richards’s progress in the following days.

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Amanda Langell
AMANDA LANGELL

Amanda Langell is a Sports Illustrated FC freelance writer and editor. Born and raised in New York City, her first loves were the Yankees, the Rangers and Broadway before Real Madrid took over her life. Had it not been for her brother’s obsession with Cristiano Ronaldo, she would have never lived through so many magical Champions League nights 3,600 miles away from the Bernabéu. When she’s not consumed by Spanish and European soccer, she’s traveling, reading or losing her voice at a concert.

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