Chris Richards (soccer) facts for kids
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Richards with the United States in 2025
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Christopher Jeffrey Richards | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | March 28, 2000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Birmingham, Alabama, United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Center-back | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Current team
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Crystal Palace | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number | 26 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2016–2017 | Texans SC Houston | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2017–2019 | FC Dallas | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2018–2019 | → Bayern Munich (loan) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2019–2021 | Bayern Munich II | 38 | (4) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2020–2022 | Bayern Munich | 5 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2021 | → TSG Hoffenheim (loan) | 11 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2021–2022 | → TSG Hoffenheim (loan) | 19 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2022– | Crystal Palace | 59 | (2) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2018–2019 | United States U20 | 12 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2019 | United States U23 | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2020– | United States | 31 | (3) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of May 25, 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of July 6, 2025 |
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Christopher Jeffrey Richards (born March 28, 2000) is an American professional soccer player. He plays as a center-back for the Premier League club Crystal Palace. He also plays for the United States national team.
Richards started his youth career with FC Dallas in the United States. He then moved to Bundesliga club Bayern Munich in Germany. He first played for their reserve team. Later, he had loan periods at 1899 Hoffenheim. In 2022, he joined Premier League club Crystal Palace. With Crystal Palace, he helped them win the FA Cup in 2025.
Chris Richards also played for the United States youth teams. He joined the senior national team in 2020. He won the CONCACAF Nations League in 2023, scoring in the final game. He also won it again in 2024.
Contents
Club Career
Starting at FC Dallas
Chris Richards grew up in Hoover, Alabama. He played youth soccer for Hoover SC. In 2016, he tried out for the FC Dallas Academy but did not make the team. Instead, he joined Texans SC in Houston. He later joined the FC Dallas Academy in 2017.
On April 12, 2018, Richards signed his first professional contract with FC Dallas.
Playing for Bayern Munich
In May 2018, Richards and another FC Dallas player, Thomas Roberts, went to FC Bayern Munich for a 10-day trial. This was part of an agreement between the two clubs. Richards played well during the trial. In July, he was offered a one-year loan with the German club.
On July 21, 2018, Richards played his first game for the Bayern senior team. This was during the 2018 International Champions Cup. He came into the game in the 62nd minute. Bayern won 3–1 against Paris Saint-Germain F.C.. During the 2018–19 season, he played for Bayern München U19s. He became a regular player and was praised for his skills.
On January 19, 2019, Richards signed a permanent contract with FC Bayern Munich. On August 19, 2019, he made his professional debut. He started for FC Bayern Munich II in the 3. Liga. They won 2–1 against Hallescher FC. He played 30 games and scored 4 goals for Bayern II. His team won the 3. Liga title.
On June 20, 2020, Richards played his first game in the Bundesliga. Bayern won 3–1 against Freiburg. On September 18, he played his first game of the 2020–21 Bundesliga season. This was in Bayern's first match against Schalke 04. He started his first game for Bayern on October 4 against Hertha BSC. He helped Robert Lewandowski score a goal in a 4–3 win.
On November 25, 2020, Richards made his UEFA Champions League debut for Bayern. They won 3–1 against Red Bull Salzburg. He left the game in the 79th minute.
Loan to Hoffenheim
On February 1, 2021, Richards joined the Bundesliga team TSG Hoffenheim. He played there on loan for the rest of that season. He also returned for another loan spell in the 2021–22 season.
Joining Crystal Palace
Richards signed a five-year contract with Premier League club Crystal Palace on July 27, 2022. He moved from Bayern Munich for a fee of €12 million.
In his first season, 2022–23, he played in some games. In the next season, 2023–24, he started playing more often. At first, he played as a defensive midfielder. This was not his usual position. But under the new manager, Oliver Glasner, he moved back to his favorite position, center-back. He scored his first goal for the club on February 24. It was the first goal in a 3–0 home win against Burnley. This was also the first goal for Palace under manager Glasner.
At the start of the 2024–25 season, Richards did not start as many games. This was because of a new loan player, Trevoh Chalobah. Richards only started six league games in the first half of the season. However, he played more after Chalobah returned to Chelsea in January 2025. Richards became a very important part of the defense. He played alongside Marc Guéhi and Maxence Lacroix. He scored his second goal for the club on April 12 in a 5–2 loss to Manchester City.
Crystal Palace went on to win the FA Cup. This was their first major trophy ever. They also qualified for European competition for the first time. Richards was praised for his strong defense in the 1–0 win against City in the 2025 FA Cup final. He was the only Crystal Palace player to play every minute of every game in the FA Cup. He also became only the second American player to play in and win an FA Cup final. The first was Tim Howard in 2004.
International Career
In January 2018, Richards was invited to a special camp for young national team players. In May 2018, he played his first game for the United States U20 team. This was against Honduras. On November 12, 2018, Richards was called up for the 2018 CONCACAF U-20 Championship. He started in two of the last three games, including the final. The U20 team won 2–0 against Mexico. On May 10, 2019, he was chosen to play for the United States at the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Richards started all five games the American team played. This included a 3–2 win against the strong team from France.
He was first called up to the senior United States squad in November 2020. This was for games against Wales and Panama. He made his national team debut as a late substitute against Panama. Richards scored his first goal for his country on June 18, 2023. He scored the first goal in a 2–0 win against Canada. This was in the 2023 CONCACAF Nations League final.
Personal Life
Chris Richards' father, Ken Richards, played college basketball. He played at Birmingham–Southern College. He later played professionally in Australia, Bolivia, and Iceland.
Career Statistics
Club
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Bayern Munich II | 2019–20 | 3. Liga | 30 | 4 | — | — | — | — | 30 | 4 | ||||
| 2020–21 | 3. Liga | 8 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 8 | 0 | |||||
| Total | 38 | 4 | — | — | — | — | 38 | 4 | ||||||
| Bayern Munich | 2019–20 | Bundesliga | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||||
| 2020–21 | Bundesliga | 3 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | |||
| 2021–22 | Bundesliga | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 | |||
| TSG Hoffenheim (loan) | 2020–21 | Bundesliga | 11 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | — | 13 | 0 | |||
| 2021–22 | Bundesliga | 19 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 21 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 30 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | — | 34 | 1 | ||||
| Crystal Palace | 2022–23 | Premier League | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | – | 10 | 0 | ||
| 2023–24 | Premier League | 26 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 30 | 1 | |||
| 2024–25 | Premier League | 24 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 32 | 1 | |||
| Total | 59 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | — | 72 | 2 | ||||
| Career total | 132 | 7 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 154 | 7 | ||
International
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 2020 | 1 | 0 |
| 2021 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 6 | 1 | |
| 2024 | 9 | 0 | |
| 2025 | 8 | 2 | |
| Total | 31 | 3 | |
- Scores and results list the United States' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Richards goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | June 18, 2023 | Allegiant Stadium, Paradise, United States | 10 |  Canada |
1–0 | 2–0 | 2023 CONCACAF Nations League final |
| 2 | June 19, 2025 | Q2 Stadium, Austin, United States | 27 |  Saudi Arabia |
1–0 | 1–0 | 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup |
| 3 | July 6, 2025 | NRG Stadium, Houston, United States | 31 |  Mexico |
1–0 | 1–2 | 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup final |
Honours
Bayern Munich
- Bundesliga: 2019–20
- UEFA Super Cup: 2020
- DFL-Supercup: 2020, 2021
Crystal Palace
- FA Cup: 2024–25
United States U20
- CONCACAF U-20 Championship: 2018
United States
- CONCACAF Nations League: 2022–23, 2023–24
Individual
- IFFHS Men's World Youth (U20) Team: 2020
- CONCACAF Nations League Finals Best XI: 2023
- CONCACAF Gold Cup Best XI: 2025
See also
In Spanish: Chris Richards para niños
