For the U.S. men's national team, the recently concluded Gold Cup represented an opportunity for manager Mauricio Pochettino to blood some inexperienced players. The likes of goalkeeper Matt Freese, defender Alex Freeman and midfielder Diego Luna grabbed that chance with both hands, proving their worth at international level.
It wasn't just the inexperienced players that garnered attention, though. Defender Chris Richards was the team's best and most consistent player at the Gold Cup, and now he's a near-lock to be in the lineup when the FIFA World Cup starts in less than a year's time.
That wasn't the case six weeks ago.
Heading into the Gold Cup, there was a question mark surrounding the starting center back pairing, as both spots seemed to be up for grabs. In Richards' case, he had long been expected to emerge as a mainstay in the U.S. lineup for this cycle, but his performances at international level never quite matched his club form. The 2024 Copa América was a disappointment. Richards' passing lacked its usual sharpness, and he wasn't as consistent in his defending either. The fourth-place finish at the 2025 Concacaf Nations League was underwhelming as well.
A stellar second half of the season with Crystal Palace saw the 25-year-old hit peak form, though, and Richards carried that level of play into the Gold Cup. His performances were on point throughout the competition, composed in his defending and even chipping in with a pair of goals off of set pieces, including one in the 2-1 defeat to Mexico in the final.
Following that match, Richards' disappointment was evident. He even admitted he threw away his runner-up medal before he even got to the postmatch mixed zone. But he did take time to reflect on what the Gold Cup meant for him personally.
"It's something that I challenged myself with going into this tournament. I wanted to be that guy that stepped up and cemented my spot, and I think maybe I've done that," Richards said after the match. "But also, every camp I come into from now on is just another stepping stone. I have to keep working and keep playing,"
Now the Hoover, Alabama native is one of the first names on Pochettino's team sheet, and his play has caught the attention of his teammates, too.
"Just watching [Richards] now play, he's actually taking over. He's doing the things that I think we all really, really have expected him to do and expected him to become as a center back," fellow defender Tim Ream told ESPN. "He's still very young, and he's still learning and just watching him, watching his growth over the past two years, really has been great to see."
Ream noted that becoming a dad changed how he viewed himself as a player and motivated him in a positive way. He feels that Richards has undergone a similar transformation since the birth of his daughter, Luna -- an assertion Richards doesn't dispute.
"[Becoming a father], it's changed my priorities," Richards told ESPN. "It has definitely made me work a little bit harder because at the end of the day, I have to provide for her and my girlfriend as well. It makes you want to work 10% -- f--- it, 100% -- harder."
Players often talk about the grind of the season, how the constant work put in often leads to a series of incremental improvements that lead to success, but a campaign can also hinge on moments. For Richards, that point came last October.
Palace had won one league match in the season's first two-and-a-half months and a hamstring injury saw Richards lose his spot in the starting lineup. The season was drifting away from him. It was then that a conversation with Palace assistant Paddy McCarthy, himself a former Palace defender, helped turn Richards' season around.
"He just told me straight up, 'What do you want to do with your career? What do you want to do while you're at Palace? Do you want to just be one of those guys who just goes through the motions, or do you want to be a guy who aspires to go to a higher caliber club?'" Richards told ESPN. "He was like, 'I see it in you. I see that you can go to higher caliber [clubs]. You have a lot of attributes that I couldn't even dream of having, but at the end of the day, you have to want it. I can't want it for you.'"
McCarthy provided some tactical advice as well, encouraging Richards to drop "as deep as you need to" in order to get the ball, that way passing lanes would open up more easily.
"It was something that at the time, I think it hurt a little bit," Richards said about that conversation. "But it was something that I needed, not just as a man, but as an athlete and a professional athlete. It's something that can either make or break you, and I was kind of ready for that moment. I was ready to take the next step, so I had to take it on the chin, and just keep moving forward."
Richards returned to the Palace lineup in late November, becoming an ever-present force and making 32 appearances in all competitions. He finished off his season with that remarkable day in May at Wembley in the FA Cup final, with Palace prevailing 1-0 over Manchester City to win the first major trophy in Palace's history.
"It was an amazing season for the club, but for me personally, I think being a part of the club that made history like that, also being the only player having played every minute in the cup run, and I think just all in all getting a lot of games under my belt, it was really beneficial for me," Richards said.
Richards noted that the talk with McCarthy was reminiscent of those he had as a 16-year-old playing for Texans SC Houston under current FC Dallas manager Eric Quill. It was Quill who plucked Richards out of Alabama and brought him to Houston, where his U18 team won a national championship. (The other center back on that team? Now-Detroit Lions placekicker Jake Bates.)
Quill recalls how he knew early on that Richards was destined to become a pro, even after he was initially turned down for FC Dallas' academy. Richards had the body movements of a point guard, which he played earlier in his youth, taking after his father, Ken, as well as Quill.
"His aerial ability was incredible," Quill said about Richards. "His reading of the game was of the highest nature because he never had to get into a full sprint half the time because he read the games so quickly, and any kind of channel duels that he would get in with wingers, nobody ever could beat him. And then I saw a few times the fifth gear that he could get into where I was like, 'Well, that's really top-end speed.'"
Quill has kept track of Richards' career, from his eventual entry to FC Dallas' academy, to Bayern Munich, to TSG Hoffenheim and eventually Palace. Quill's assessment of why Richards has found that next level is simple: health.
"I think he's been in [the lineup], he gets injured, goes back on the shelf, comes back. I just think when you start to get that really good form is typically when you've had a long run of games and you got that fluidity and that rhythm," Quill said. "And I think that's why his game is soaring right now and he's exuding a lot of confidence in everything he's doing."
That includes stepping into a leadership role this summer with the USMNT. With the roster composed mostly of younger players who were inexperienced at international level, there was a need for players delivering strong performances and strong voices. Ream's steady, calming presence has long made him one of the team's leaders, but he couldn't do it alone. Richards has since stepped in and helped the team in that regard.
"He's never been one that just sits there and is quiet, but now listening to him in a game, he's so much more vocal, he's so much more commanding," Ream said of Richards. "His positioning has gotten exponentially better, and that just comes with experience. He's going to continue to get better and better, which is scary."
Richards says that he's gotten to the point where he feels comfortable in a leadership role. The nature of the center back position often requires directing teammates and being demanding. That is something Richards has long enjoyed, but his level of play has given him more credibility.
"You have to lead by example as well, and I think that's something that I feel like I do," he said.
Next year's World Cup is never far from Richards' mind. He missed out on the 2022 edition due to a hamstring injury. He has every intention of being there in 2026.
"It really hurt not to be a part of the '22 squad, whether it was the memories that the guys made along the way, or just the performances that they put in as well," he said. "But me personally, I want to be a part of that. I want to be a part of history, and I want to be a part of winning history, the right set of history. So I think for me, this is a huge year for me, for club and country, but I think just doing all the right things at my club so that when it comes to playing for the U.S. that I'm available and I'm ready and I'm at the highest level that I can possibly be."
Richards is well on his way.