Mauricio Pochettino admitted he will have to "make a decision" over Chris Richards' place at the World Cup soon, as he faces a race to be fit for the United States' opener.

Richards has been named in the USA's squad for the tournament, but even though the official rosters have already been submitted to FIFA, teams can still make changes due to injury up until 24 hours before their first game.

The defender suffered an ankle injury in Crystal Palace's 2-2 draw with Brentford in the Premier League on May 17 and, as such, was an unused substitute in the Eagles’ Conference League win over Rayo Vallecano.

He has since missed the USA's 3-2 friendly win over Senegal last Sunday and will not feature in their final match before the World Cup against Germany on Saturday.

"He's not ready to compete and to play," Pochettino said.

"In the next few days, we have the possibility to assess him and his ankle, then to make a decision.

"Maybe if tomorrow was the final of the World Cup, he could play, but the advice of the medical team was to not play."

Richards was back on the training pitch on Friday, doing ball work with the full group during an open training session, marking the first time he has been able to get involved with the group.

Pochettino was seemingly unhappy with the amount of information he was given about Richards' injury when making the decision over his squad.

"When we decided on the squad list, we thought [Richards] could play in the UEFA Conference League final, and that's how we built the roster," Pochettino added.

"At the time, the information we had suggested that he might be able to play in that final against Rayo Vallecano. In fact, he was on the bench, among the substitutes. Then we thought he might perhaps be available against Senegal, as well. But in the end, the timelines kept getting pushed back, and that frustrates me a bit.

"I'm not happy about it, because we know he's an important player. Of course, we all know that. But when I talk about the information we were working with, sometimes there isn't much clarity in the end.

"We can keep waiting and hoping that Chris will be available, but as you said, we may end up with a player who arrives [at the World Cup] without having competed. Then we have to decide whether he's fit enough to compete or not, and there isn't much time during the World Cup."

The USA have faced Germany 12 times before, losing eight (W4) of those previous meetings, including the most recent – a 3-1 friendly defeat back in October 2023.

Following this match, Pochettino's side turn their attention to the World Cup and their opener against Paraguay on June 12.