The United States finalized its World Cup roster, and Chris Richards is still on it.
Mauricio Pochettino kept the injured defender on the 26-man roster when the U.S. men’s national team officially submitted the names to FIFA on Monday.
Richards suffered torn ankle ligaments while playing for Crystal Palace last month, but it didn’t stop Pochettino from naming him to the World Cup roster about two weeks later.
Richards, a 26-year-old center back and certain starter when healthy, is with the team at training headquarters outside Atlanta. Pochettino said over the weekend that the team hadn’t made a final decision over Richards’ World Cup fitness.
“We need to see,” Pochettino said. “The next few days are going to be key, to see the possibility to be ready or not on the World Cup.”
Richards can still be replaced on the roster before June 11, as the United States opens the tournament June 12 against Paraguay in Inglewood, Calif.
The U.S. is co-hosting the 48-team tournament with Canada and Mexico. The Americans beat Senegal 3-2 in a friendly Sunday, and they’ll have one more tune-up this Saturday against Germany.
UNITED STATES WORLD CUP ROSTER
Goalkeepers: Chris Brady, Matt Freese, Matt Turner
Defenders: Max Arfsten, Sergino Dest, Alex Freeman, Mark McKenzie, Tim Ream, Chris Richards, Antonee Robinson, Miles Robinson, Joe Scally, Auston Trusty
Midfielders: Tyler Adams, Sebastian Berhalter, Weston McKennie, Cristian Roldan
Attacking midfielders/wingers: Brenden Aaronson, Christian Pulisic, Gio Reyna, Malik Tillman, Tim Weah, Alejandro Zendejas
Forwards: Folarin Balogun, Ricardo Pepi, Haji Wright
–Field Level Media
