U.S. Faces Difficult Path in World Cup Jamie Sabau/Getty Images The United States will play Germany, Portugal and Ghana in Group G. No goals were scored on Friday. No substitutions were used, no games were won, and no points were tallied. Yet somehow, it felt as if the United States national team lost. That was the popular sentiment, anyway, after the World Cup draw ceremony was held in Costa do Sauipe, Brazil, and the United States found itself placed in a preliminary-round group with the European juggernaut Germany; Portugal and its star wing, Cristiano Ronaldo; and an African nemesis, Ghana, that has eliminated the United States from the past two World Cups. To many observers, the United States was stuck with the worst draw among the 32 teams. In addition to facing three opponents ranked in the top 25 in the world (two in the top 5), the Americans will have to travel nearly 9,000 miles to and from their training base in São Paulo to play their matches. Making matters worse, the game against Portugal will take place in the humid climate of Manaus, a port city in the Amazon rain forest that seemed to be the host site that every coach wanted to avoid. Only the top two teams in each of the eight groups will advance to the knockout rounds. "We hit the worst of the worst," United States Manager Jurgen Klinsmann said of his team's schedule. He added: "It's one of the most difficult groups in the whole draw. It couldn't get any more difficult or any bigger. But that's what the World Cup is about, and we'll take it on. Hopefully we can surprise some people. At minimum, the United States will be familiar with its opponents. Klinsmann won the 1990 World Cup with West Germany and coached the German national team to a third-place finish at the 2006 tournament. The United States also faced Germany in the 1998 and 2002 World Cups, losing each time. Ghana is no stranger to the United States, either, as it has faced - and beaten - the United States in the last two World Cups. In an odd twist, Ghana advanced to next year's tournament by winning a qualifying playoff against Egypt - which was coached by the American Bob Bradley, who was in charge of the United States team that was eliminated by Ghana in 2010. "After two losses, it's about time to beat them, I guess," Klinsmann said. While some might see the United States" Group G as an obvious choice as the proverbial Group of Death, other groups appear more straightforward. Brazil, which is hoping to add to its record five World Cup titles, seems like a favorite to advance. It will open the tournament on June 12 against Croatia in São Paulo before facing Mexico and Cameroon in Group A. The host team could have a difficult match in the Round of 16, however, with a game likely against either Spain (the defending champion) or the Netherlands (which knocked Brazil out of the tournament in 2010). That means it is almost certain that one of those top teams will be eliminated early on. "The opening game generates enormous pressure," said Carlos Alberto Parreira, a Brazilian assistant coach. Win the first match and you are well on the way to making it through. Brazilian fans have incredibly high expectations for the tournament - nothing less than a championship will be acceptable to many - but Brazil's bitter rival, Argentina, actually appears to be in a better position for a deep run. Argentina, in Group F, will face Iran, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Nigeria in the group stage and then would be in position to face a team from Group E, which includes Switzerland, France, Honduras and Ecuador, in the knockout rounds. Assuming the star striker Lionel Messi is healthy (he has had lingering leg injuries), the Argentines appear to have a relatively smooth path through the bracket. Some Argentine fans credited Pope Francis, an Argentine who ardently follows soccer, for the team's favorable draw. "The pope prayed for this group, no doubt," Marcelo Larraquy, who wrote a biography of Francis, noted on Twitter. England fans, on the other hand, were more frantic. Manager Roy Hodgson took a pragmatic approach to the draw leading up to the ceremony, saying only that he was concerned with the location of his team's games - climates vary across Brazil - as opposed to the opponents. Hodgson was no doubt disappointed, then, after learning that England had been drawn into Group D and would, like the United States, have to travel to the Amazon for a game in Manaus. England will face Italy in the jungle in its first game before playing Costa Rica and Uruguay in its other two matches. "Tough group," England midfielder Jack Wilshere wrote on Twitter. But so what? If we want to win it we will have to play the best teams anyway.