Rio Cardines

Rio Solomon Cardines (born 1 July 2006) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for Premier League club Crystal Palace. Born in England, he plays for the Trinidad and Tobago national team.

Rio Cardines

Personal information
Full name	Rio Solomon Cardines[1]
Date of birth	(2006-07-01) 1 July 2006 (age 18)
Place of birth	Stevenage, England[2]
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[3]
Position(s)	Defender
Team information
Current team	Crystal Palace
Number	69
Youth career
2016–2022	Stevenage
2022–	Crystal Palace
International career‡
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2023	Trinidad and Tobago U17	3	(1)
2024	Trinidad and Tobago U20	3	(1)
2025–	Trinidad and Tobago	2	(0)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 14:37, 29 May 2025 (UTC)

Club career

Cardines is a quick athletic defender who was a youth product of the successful London Colney Colts under-12 and under-15 teams based in St Albans. He went on to join the academy at Stevenage. Cardines joined the youth academy of Crystal Palace at under-16 level in 2022. He was part of the team who won a pre-season tournament against Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Dundee United in August 2022. Though he has played predominantly as a right-back, Cardines has also slotted in anywhere across the defence if required and has also played on the wing. Cardines made his first start for the Under-18s side against Norwich City in November 2022 and managed to get on the scoresheet in a 2-2 draw. His performances for the young Eagles saw him earn a call-up in January 2023, to Trinidad and Tobago's Under-17s team for their participation in the CONCACAF Under-17 Championship.^[4] He helped the Crystal Palace U21s win the 2023–24 Premier League International Cup.^[5] On 3 July 2024, he signed his first professional contract with Crystal Palace.^[6] He played for the Palace U21s in a 1–0 EFL Trophy loss to Stevenage on 20 August 2024.^[7]

International career

Born in England, Cardines is of Trinidadian descent through his paternal grandparents.^[2] A dual-citizen, he gained Trinidadian citizenship on 10 February 2023.^[8] He was part of the Trinidad and Tobago U17s that played at the 2023 CONCACAF U-17 Championship.^[9] In 2024, he was called up to the Trinidad and Tobago U20s for a set of 2024 CONCACAF U-20 Championship qualifying matches.^[8]

On 1 July 2023, Cardines was part of the preliminary 60-man squad for the senior Trinidad and Tobago national team for the 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup.^[10] He was formally called up to the senior Trinidad and Tobago national team for the 2025 Unity Cup.^[11] He debuted in that tournament in a 3–2 loss to Jamaica on 27 May 2025.^[12]

Honours

Crystal Palace U21

• Premier League International Cup: 2023–24^[5]