The United States men's national soccer team released its roster selection for the next set of 2022 CONCACAF World Cup Qualifiers which are set to take place at the end of this month. Birmingham native Chris Richards was named to the squad for the third straight qualifying window.
Richards, a 21-year-old defender who currently plays for Hoffenheim while on loan from Bayern Munich, was born in Birmingham and grew up playing soccer in Hoover before moving into the FC Dallas Academy in 2017. He quickly drew attention from bigger clubs, making the move to Germany in 2018 before officially being signed by the country's most successful club, Bayern, in Jan. 2019.
During his youth career, Richards made 14 appearances for the national team before getting his first call up to the senior team in Nov. 2020. He has made six appearances for the national team, including starting two of the last three World Cup qualifiers.
The United States currently sit second in the CONCACAF standings, the qualifiers for North American countries, and will need to finish in the top three to automatically secure a spot in the 2022 World Cup later this year. There are six matchdays remaining in the round including three in the upcoming international window.
Richards will likely be seeing minutes for the squad over the next two weeks. The first match is Thursday, Jan. 27 when the US hosts El Salvador in Columbus, Ohio. That will be followed by a trip to face first-place Canada on Jan. 30. The window closes with a match against Honduras in Minnesota.
All matches can be seen on the Paramount Plus app.