Chris Richards has been one of the standouts for the USA, as the Crystal Palace center-back has delivered exceptional passing performances in his opening World Cup matches against Paraguay and Australia.
After completing all 84 of his passes in their 4-1 rout of Paraguay in the opener, the 26-year-old defender followed it up by going 91-for-95 in his passes in their 2-0 win against Australia a few hours ago. His composure at the back certainly helped the USA clinch a spot in the knockouts, as they have won their opening two group stage games for the first time since 1930.
At the time of writing, Richards has gone 175-for-179 (97.8%), achieving the second-highest passing accuracy (minimum 100 attempts) by any player in their first two World Cup matches since 1966, per ESPN Insights.
The only player who has a higher passing accuracy was Gheorghe Popescu, as the former Romanian defender went 122-for-124 (98.4%) against Colombia and the USA. Popescu’s brilliant passing display helped Romania take the top spot in Group A at the time before eventually losing to Sweden in the quarterfinals (via penalties).
MORE: 2026 USMNT World Cup roster, full list of players
Chris Richards is confident that the USA can go all the way this World Cup
The USA have been one of the pleasant surprises in this year’s World Cup so far, as they largely dominated in their matches against Paraguay and Australia. After clinching a spot in the knockouts, center-back Chris Richards is fancying his team’s chances of winning the quadrennial tournament.
“I don’t think it’s ridiculous to say that we want to win it,” Richards said. “Obviously we have a lot more games before we get to that moment, but you know, we take it one game at a time. We want to lift a trophy by the end of this.”
The Stars and Stripes will wrap up their group stage campaign with a fun match against Turkiye (currently third in Group D) on June 25 at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. Head coach Mauricio Pochettino would likely rest some of his players in this contest, including captain Christian Pulisic.
