NUREMBERG, Germany — Even before playing Ghana, the United States believed it was in the toughest World Cup group.

Heading into the final games today, it was the only group in which no teams had clinched spots in the second round and no teams had been eliminated — just as U.S. coach Bruce Arena predicted last month.

To get to the second round, the United States had to win this morning — and hope for some help. The most likely scenario for advancement included a victory by Italy over the Czech Republic, in a game that kicked off at the same time.

And what a present for the U.S. if it wins: a matchup with Brazil.

"Any time you play the defending world champion in a World Cup, great," U.S. coach Bruce Arena said Wednesday. "I hope we're the team facing them."

There are other outcomes that could send the Americans through, but they are improbable because their 3-0 thumping by the Czechs means, in most combinations, the United States would have to beat Ghana by at least four goals.

American captain Claudio Reyna and Arena said they would consider the performance a success with a victory, even if their World Cup ends.

"If we had four points and it wasn't good enough to advance into the knockout stage, that's life," Arena said.

Did American players want to be told the score in the other game while they're out on the field?

"If it's 4-0 at half for Italy, I probably would want to know," Landon Donovan said. "Otherwise, don't tell me."

At the 2002 tournament in Japan and South Korea, the Americans' 3-1 loss to Poland in their final first-round game meant they needed South Korea to upset Portugal to advance. That happened, and the United States went on to beat Mexico before losing to Germany 1-0 in the quarterfinals.

This time the Americans have groped around for offense, and have yet to find it.

The world's fifth-ranked team has a tournament-low one shot on goal. The only U.S. goal was accidentally scored by Italian defender Cristian Zaccardo in Saturday's desperate 1-1 tie — a game in which the U.S. got its first point during a World Cup held in Europe despite playing much of the second half one man down to the Italians.

Today, the U.S. faced a Ghana team ranked 48th by soccer's governing body. But it's also a team that won 2-0 over the Czech side that made the U.S. look like World Cup misfits.

"I think the World Cup has clearly indicated their quality," Arena said of the Ghanaians. "I would not have thought that in some of the leadup games."

A former British colony that became independent in 1957, Ghana has one of the world's top players in midfielder Michael Essien. Acquired last August by Chelsea from Lyon for $47 million, the 23-year-old helped the London club win its second straight English Premier League title.

"Essien is one of the top players in this tournament," Arena said. "He's brilliant, and he's a player that we can't just let him do anything he wants to do over 90 minutes, or else we'll lose the game."

U.S. forward Brian McBride played against him in England last season.

"Probably the only thing that's going to neutralize him is us just keeping the ball," McBride said.

The setting will be historic.

Nuremberg was where the war crimes of the Nazis were laid bare. The stadium, first constructed in the 1920s, is near the remains of Albert Speer's Zeppelin Field, where huge Nazi rallies were held in the 1930s.

Each team was missing a pair of suspended players. Ghana's Asamoah Gyan and Sulley Muntari, its two goal scorers, sat out, as did U.S. defender Eddie Pope and midfielder Pablo Mastroeni.