United States
Manager: Gregg Berhalter
Co-hosts USA have to deliver. The core of their squad is experienced, having featured four years ago in Qatar, and in Mauricio Pochettino they have a coach with star quality. However, with Pochettino's contract only running until after this tournament, his goal has always been clear, and his post-World Cup future may become a distraction depending on how results go. Beating Paraguay in their opening game would be the perfect way to ease some tensio. The Stars and Stripes' second opponents, Australia, are awkward but beatable, but Turkey could be too strong. Second place would secure a favourable game in the round of 32, but either Argentina or Uruguay could be lurking in the last 16.
