Team USA’s Chris Richards on Preparing For His First World Cup

Team USA’s Chris Richards on Preparing For His First World Cup

From The Run-Through with Vogue by Vogue

June 4, 2026 · 37 min

About this episode

Chris Richards discusses his journey to the World Cup and the challenges he faced along the way.

The World Cup is just a week away and to mark the occasion, The Run-Through invited US Men's Soccer Team player Chris Richards on the podcast. Vogue fútbol fiends Taylor Antrim and Alyssa Hardy sit down with the young defender to talk about the journey to his first World Cup. Richards grew up in Hoover, Alabama, a town where American football reigns supreme. “Everybody knew everybody,” he explains, “and a lot of the kids that played soccer were also the kicker for the football team.” Soccer was hardly deemed a viable option. “I had teachers laugh at me when I told them I wanna do this for a living,” Richards tells the podcast, “But I just kept my head down and decided I wanted to prove them wrong. And I think I've done pretty well at that.” Fresh off an ankle injury, Richards is busy doing strength exercises and massaging the swelling down. He’ll be sitting out the final friendlies match against Germany this weekend but is planning to play once the World Cup officially begins next week. “It feels like everybody's still kind of holding their breath.” They also chat about finding community through his time playing for Bayern Munich and Crystal Palace. “London is a beautiful place…

People in this episode

Hosts: Taylor Antrim, Alyssa Hardy

Guest: Chris Richards

Topics covered

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Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Bayern Munich, Crystal Palace

Places: Hoover, Alabama, South London

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