13. 6. 2026

Chris Richards sets 83/83 World Cup passing record

The USA opened World Cup 2026 Group D with a 4-1 win over Paraguay at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. The night belonged to Chris Richards, who completed 83 of 83 passes. That is a new World Cup record for most accurate passes in a perfect performance in a single match. He played all 90 minutes and kept the ball moving from the back with near metronome rhythm.

The match drew 70,492 fans and had Danny Makkelie in charge. Sofascore tracked the full event with player heat maps, expected goals and on-ball values. Richards finished with a Sofascore Rating of 6.9. Not bad for a defender whose main job is to stop attacks, not headline them.

83/83: a World Cup passing benchmark

Richards’ 83 from 83 accurate passes set a new tournament best for a perfect passing game. The previous high marks on record featured John Stones with 71 from 71. Miranda posted 59 from 59. Gheorghe Popescu had 54 from 54. Richards moved past all three in one sharp display against Paraguay.

He also hit every single category cleanly. He went 57 from 57 in his own half. He went 26 from 26 in the opposition half. He even nailed his only long ball at 1 from 1. For a center back, that is control with zero waste.

Where the passes went

The split tells the story of calm build-up and smart progression. Richards completed 57 of 57 passes in his own half, which kept the USA out of pressure traps. He then found teammates 26 of 26 times in the opposition half. He added 4 accurate passes in the final third from his season line, which matched the eye test of steady advancement.

He had 90 touches and carried the ball 29 times. His total carry distance reached 208.8 meters, with 99.5 meters of progression. His best single carry pushed play 14.17 meters upfield. He logged one progressive carry and 15.16 meters of progressive carry distance overall. The point is simple. He did not just recycle the ball. He moved the team up the pitch responsibly.

A defender’s night beyond the ball

Defensively, Richards won 6 of 10 total duels for a 60% win rate. He took 4 aerial duels and won them all against 2 losses in the air overall. On the ground he won 2 of 4. He made 3 clearances and 1 interception. He added 1 tackle and won it. He recovered 3 balls and was not dribbled past.

There were a few scrappy moments. He committed 3 fouls and was fouled once. He also took 1 shot, which went off target from inside the box. His expected goals sat at 0.0266 and expected assists at 0.0114, both fair for a center back. The USA conceded once from inside the box, so no clean sheet. Still, the overall value leaned positive thanks to secure distribution and steady duels.

Match context and what it means

The USA, ranked 17th, handled Group D’s opener with a 4-1 scoreline. Paraguay, ranked 41st, could not disrupt the American back line often enough. Mauricio Pochettino led the USA and Gustavo Alfaro coached Paraguay, per the match listing. SoFi Stadium handled the stage with a crowd larger than its listed capacity, and the tempo suited ball-playing defenders.

Richards, a 188 cm right-footed center back for Crystal Palace, wore number 26 for this game. He finished with 100% passing, 1 key defensive tackle won and 3 clearances. His passing record now sits above Stones, Miranda and Popescu on the perfect-accuracy leaderboard. On Sofascore, you can dive into his heat map, on-ball values and every pass plotted from the USA half to the Paraguay third.