The United States will be under pressure to win their first match at the World Cup. America's opponent is Paraguay, who have established themselves as underdogs. Any result other than a win could hurt the co-hosts' bid to advance to the next round. Group D: The United States is the highest-ranked team, 17th. Paraguay, on the other hand, is 41st. Paraguay is the lowest-ranked team in this group, along with Australia and Turkey. Moreover, with 48 teams competing in this World Cup, it is already a weak team. But many football pundits believe that the Paraguayan team is strong in itself. For now, the United States is in a good form against its South American rivals. The United States has won its last three matches against Paraguay. The most recent win was 2-1. There is also a big coincidence that these two teams also played against each other in the 1930 World Cup. The United States won that. The United States' attack is also strong in itself. It depends on Weston McKennie, Christian Pulisic and Florin Bologn.

The United States did not have to play in the qualifiers as the hosts, but Paraguay, on the contrary, played a very difficult South American qualifier. Paraguay automatically qualified for the World Cup by finishing sixth. Paraguay, which last played in the 2010 World Cup, made it to the quarterfinals. There, they were defeated by Spain, who became champions.

In contrast to the character of the American team, Paraguay's strong point is its defense. So this match will be in many ways a game between the United States' attack and Paraguay's resistance to it. Paraguay had scored only 14 goals in 18 matches in the qualifiers. This explains what this team is like. In this case, the key player of the team will be Diego Gomez in midfield. He will have to create chances for goals.

Players to watch

Gio Reyna (USA)

Gio Reyna plays for German club Borussia Monchengladbach. But since January, the 23-year-old has only played six games in the Bundesliga, all as substitutes. Argentine coach Mauricio Pochettino's US team has a lot of attacking players with a lot of technical aspects.

Reyna's mother, Danielle, is also a former US player. Produced by the New York Academy, he went to German team Borussia Dortmund, where he became the youngest player to score in the history of the German Cup. He then joined Monchengladbach.

Reyna became the second youngest player for the US when he appeared in the 2022 World Cup in Doha. But he was almost sent home from Qatar after an argument with then-coach Gregg Berhalter. He has since matured, saying, "I want to score goals to help my team win." Reyna has scored nine goals in 38 appearances for the United States since making his national team debut in 2020.