Once again, the USA looks to have an easy draw in group play at the Gold Cup.

It's 7-0-0 against Guatemala, Trinidad & Tobago and El Salvador, its Group B foes at the 2007 the Gold Cup, and they all three are in turmoil. El Salvador only recently ended a 29-month winless streak. Like El Salvador, Guatemala didn't win a game in 2006, while political problems forced T&T's soccer federation to suspend the national team program on Tuesday.

The USA is the CONCACAF competition's defending champion, having won the 2005 Gold Cup on penalty kicks over Panama in the final. Its 0-0 tie with Costa Rica in its final group game at the 2005 tournament ended its perfect record of 18 wins in 18 first-round games in the Gold Cup

The U.S. will begin its title defense on June 7 against Guatemala at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., and will also play its second Group B match there two days later against Trinidad & Tobago. The USA closes out group play against El Salvador on June 12 at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass. All three U.S. group matches will be broadcast live on Fox Soccer Channel and TeleFutura.

The USA beat both Guatemala and Trinidad Tobago at the 1991 and 1996 Gold Cups in California and beat El Salvador three times by a combined margin of 8-0. Indeed, it's been more than 12 years since one of the Group B opponents has beaten the USA. T&T's 1-0 win in a 1994 friendly is its only victory in 16 meetings. Guatemala won the first four games against the USA, but the Americans are 9-0-4 in the last 13 matches, beginning with 1-0 win in 1988. The USA's only loss in 17 games with El Salvador came in a 1992 friendly played in San Salvador.

If the U.S. finishes first or second in Group B, it will play a quarterfinal match at Gillette Stadium on June 16. The top two teams in each of the three groups and the two best third-place finishers advance to the quarterfinals. Both semifinals are on June 21 at Chicago's Soldier Field, and the final will be played at the same location on June 24. If both the U.S. and Mexico finish in the top two in their respective groups, the earliest the rivals could face off is the final.

CONCACAF announced in October that no guest teams would be invited, meaning that 12 CONCACAF teams would compete in the Gold Cup for the first time. Four-time champion Mexico was drawn into Group C along with Cuba, Honduras and Panama and will begin group play at Giants Stadium. Canada, the only other team to win the event, was drawn into Group A along with Costa Rica, Guadeloupe and Haiti, and will begin group play in Miami and conclude in Houston.

Guadeloupe, which features former French national team star Jocelyn Angloma, is the only first-time entrant in the Gold Cup.