‘I want to continue to be a leader here’ - USMNT star Chris Richards embraces bigger Crystal Palace role after fulfilling World Cup dream

When asked about the World Cup, Richards instantly starts talking about a catalogue of moments. There were the on-field ones, of course: the flyovers, the goals, the celebrations. The ones he’s thought about more and more recently are the off-field ones, though. Those are the moments frozen in time.

“Christian [Pulisic] got us all watches, and we did it outside," Richards recalls. “We did a little drum roll, and everyone went up there and did something stupid before receiving it. Everyone remembers that moment because it was just everyone being a kid again and just enjoying each other. There was this nervous energy before that first game, but that's how it goes. "

Richards spent much of his downtime with Timothy Weah and Mark McKenzie, watching Pop the Balloon or Find Love, roasting marshmallows around the fire pits outside their rooms and listening to music. Those ordinary moments allowed them to forget about soccer, be themselves and build a brotherhood that Richards believes will last well beyond the tournament.

“The main thing is we built that brotherhood, and it could never be taken away from us,” Richards said.

The World Cup was nearly taken away from Richards. After missing out in 2022, the defender suffered a pre-tournament scare with an ankle injury that, for a few weeks, left many crossing their fingers. For a time, there were doubts about the World Cup. Did Richards, at any point, feel those doubts himself?

“I'll say yes and no,” he can admit now with a smile. “‘I’ve had ankle injuries before, and so I understood what it took to get to a playing level, and, if worst came to worst, it was gonna have to be taking a pretty good painkiller. The good part is that I didn't end up really having to take any.

“For me, I mean, it didn't matter what it was gonna take. I was gonna play in this World Cup, especially after missing the last one. There was no way I was missing this tournament.”

Richards is thinking more than ever about taking care of himself and his body, especially after coming so close to missing a second consecutive World Cup due to injury.

“I've self-proclaimed it, but I think when I first joined Palace, I wasn't necessarily doing the most professional stuff when it came to recovery, nutrition and things like that,” he says. “Sometimes injuries are inevitable, but I’ve tried to incorporate things off the field that would help me on the field. 

“I've actually been wearing the Stelo glucose biosensor, and it's been really good for, of course, stuff on the field, but I think the biggest difference I see is off the field because they go hand in hand, and so you know nutrition. I think grew up a little bit. That metabolism starts slowing down a little bit, I'm not the same kid as I was!”

Once this summer effectively ended with the USMNT’s loss to Belgium, Richards didn’t linger. He didn’t stay stateside for too long before heading back to London. It was a short break, he said, largely because he knew what the impact of a longer one could be.

“Going home, eating American food,” he says with a laugh, “it can do something to you.”

When Richards did get back to Palace, he entered a team already in preseason. He also entered a team that had no shortage of World Cup stories to tell. Palace had 13 players at this summer’s tournament. Only five teams in the world had more.

Because of that fact, there was a different type of reception for this summer’s World Cup veterans, but also a sense of normalcy for a club that has come to expect these sorts of achievements.

“I've felt, well, I think I’ve felt, a newfound kind of trust from the team,” he says. “I had a good World Cup, but I think everybody was watching everybody at the World Cup. You're watching your teammates play, and you come back, and everybody kind of has this newfound respect for the person next to you who did well, or performed at all at the World Cup.”

It has, generally, been a summer of change for Palace, though. The club has lost some key players. Those players are working to gel in these early weeks of the season. Before you know it, though, the next international break will be here, which will put Richards right back into USMNT mode.

When that happens, the switch will flip with a different type of mindset, largely thanks to a new teammate at Palace.

“I think the reason why it feels a bit newer,” he says, “ is that I have guys like Zavier here with me at Palace now.”

Richards can admit that he didn’t quite know what to expect when Palace signed Gozo from Real Salt Lake this summer. Because of their shared nationality, there’s this assumed expectation that the two would have a bond. You never know what that will look like, though. Would their personalities mesh? Would Richards’ leadership style work with Gozo? Given their positions on the field, what could they learn from one another?

“I think whenever a young kid comes into a team like this, you are a bit hesitant, especially when they're from your own country,” he says. “There's always like, ‘Oh, you have to take care of him’,  but one thing that's been really amazing seeing him is that he doesn't fear anybody. 

“I think a lot of the time, young kids play young. He actually plays very mature, and I think that's helped him.”

Whether he knows it or not, Gozo has helped Richards, too. Now 26 with 40 caps to his name, Richards is a USMNT veteran. He now has a World Cup under his belt and is among the contenders to captain the team in the 2030 cycle. If you were to break down the USMNT player pool, Richards would be among the names right at the very top.

Gozo, meanwhile, is a player fighting for that distinction. His rise in MLS came just a few months too late for him to make the World Cup squad, but his USMNT debut will surely be coming in the very near future. The road to that debut is defined by hunger. Richards remembers his own road well, and it’s been refreshing to talk about that hunger with someone just starting their own journey.

“You can see how he's looking at the national team as this ultimate goal,” he says. “For me to have the perspective of somebody who's looking to make his first cap, that's what's made it refreshing for me. It’s understanding that it is now ultimately going to be a new cycle. You have World Cup qualifiers, you have things like that that we didn't have to deal with last cycle.”

Gozo isn’t the only one at Palace looking towards Richards for leadership, though. Given the current state of the club, Richards is now one of Palace’s most important players.

Guehi left in the winter. Lacroix followed this summer. With two-thirds of Palace's go-to central defense playing elsewhere, Richards is the last one standing from the teams that won historic trophies in back-to-back seasons.

It’s a role that Richards has been growing towards, and one that he’s glad to take on as the club brings in new faces to replace those they’ve lost.

“Understanding that we've lost a few guys and potentially gaining some new guys, it's been good to step into that leadership role that I think I've done with the national team,” he says. “It's prepared me for this role with Palace. I think it's just about being more vocal…Guys are looking at me for guidance, not just in what I say, but also in what I do. 

“For me, I would say it's been a challenge, but not a challenge that I shy away from. I think it's just a new challenge and something that I really, in my career, really want to continue to learn from and grow from.”

That said, the expectations at Palace are different, too. The club ended a 119-year wait for major silverware by winning the FA Cup in 2025. They followed that up by winning the Conference League earlier this year, adding European silverware to their domestic trophy. 

Because of that, the mentality at the club has shifted. This is no longer a club content with survival, and Richards says that mentality is felt every day.

“Maybe four years ago when I first came into the club, these weren't goals that we thought were realistic or they weren't even things that we put on our board,” he says. “Now, we've won silverware two years in a row, and we have the taste of it now. We want to keep going, and so, for me, it's been really exciting. 

"When you hear about new players signing here or just talking about the culture of the club, now they refer to us as a team that wins trophies…This is something that two years ago, three years ago, four years ago, wasn't necessarily on our radar and now that we've done it, we want to continue this and leave the club better than we than we than we joined.”

Richards is a key part of that, and he hopes to be going forward, too.