Rio Cardines
Trinidadian footballer (born 2006)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rio Solomon Cardines (born 1 July 2006) is a professional footballer who plays as a right-back or right wing-back for Premier League club Crystal Palace. Born in England, he plays for the Trinidad and Tobago national team.
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Cardines with Crystal Palace in 2025 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Rio Solomon Cardines[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 1 July 2006 | ||
| Place of birth | Stevenage, England[2] | ||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[3] | ||
| Position | |||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Crystal Palace | ||
| Number | 59 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –2022 | Stevenage Borough Juniors | ||
| 2022–2025 | Crystal Palace | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2025– | Crystal Palace | 0 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2023 | Trinidad and Tobago U17 | 3 | (1) |
| 2024 | Trinidad and Tobago U20 | 3 | (1) |
| 2025– | Trinidad and Tobago | 2 | (0) |
|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 14:37, 29 May 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals 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 Stevenage Borough Juniors.[4] 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. 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] Cardines first competitive involvement with the first-team was as an unused substitute in the 2025 FA Community Shield in August 2025,[8] with his first appearance occurring two months later when he came on as a late substitute in an away match against Dynamo Kyiv in the UEFA Conference League.[9]
International career
Born in England, Cardines is of Trinidadian descent.[2] A dual-citizen, he gained Trinidadian citizenship on February 10th 2023.[10] He was part of the Trinidad and Tobago U17s that played at the 2023 CONCACAF U-17 Championship.[11] In 2024, he was called up to the Trinidad and Tobago U20s for a set of 2024 CONCACAF U-20 Championship qualifying matches.[10]
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.[12] He was formally called up to the senior Trinidad and Tobago national team for the 2025 Unity Cup.[13] He debuted in that tournament in a 3–2 loss to Jamaica on 27 May 2025.[14]
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 29 October 2025
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | EFL Cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Crystal Palace U21 | 2024–25[15] | — | — | — | — | 1[a] | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||||
| Crystal Palace | 2025–26[16] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1[b] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Career total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
- Appearance in EFL Trophy
- Appearance in UEFA Conference League
International
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trinidad and Tobago | 2025 | 6 | 0 |
| Total | 6 | 0 | |
Honours
Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace U21