Chris Richards creates a historic moment at the home World Cup—the former Bayern pro sets a record that hasn’t been matched in decades.
At the World Cup on home soil, a former FC Bayern Munich player is creating a special moment in tournament history. Chris Richards, who once played for the record-breaking champions, has set a historic record with an outstanding performance for the U.S. national team.
In the U.S.’s 4-1 opening victory over Paraguay, the center back was among the best players on the field. He emerged as a leader in the defense and won crucial tackles.
The 26-year-old particularly shone with his composure and stability in building up play and even managed to etch his name into the World Cup history books with his performance.
New World Cup record for Richards
According to statistics, Richards achieved a milestone that hadn’t been seen in this form at a World Cup in decades. The Crystal Palace defender played a total of 83 passes, every single one of which found a teammate.
According to Opta, he is the first player since detailed data collection began to achieve a 100 percent pass completion rate with such a high number of passes.
The fact that Richards put in such a strong performance is all the more surprising given that he had only recently returned to fitness just before the tournament began, after suffering an injury on the final matchday of the Premier League.
Tough going in Munich
Richards played for the record champions from 2018 to 2022, but never really managed to establish himself there. He arrived from Dallas in 2018 for around five million euros and initially played for the U19 team.
After making the jump to the pros, he was loaned out twice to TSG Hoffenheim. In 2022, the club at Säbener Straße decided to part ways with Richards permanently and sold him to Crystal Palace for 12 million euros, where he still plays. There, he appeared in 33 Premier League matches last season and won the Conference League.