U.S. opens World Cup with huge expectations and a familiar question: can soccer finally break through?

The U.S. men’s national team begins its World Cup campaign tonight at SoFi Stadium, newly named Los Angeles Stadium, against Paraguay in Group 4. The team arrives under heavy expectations as the so-called American golden generation, with all 11 starters and 18 of the squad’s players based in Europe, but it has not yet produced a result that convinces fans it can transform the sport’s place in the United States.

The article says the biggest obstacle to soccer in America is cultural. Soccer is an immigrant game competing with basketball, football and baseball, and even a sold-out 63,000 crowd at the final tune-up against Germany in Chicago quickly returned to other sports after a 2-1 U.S. loss. Still, the old claim that Americans do not like or understand soccer is described as outdated, because millions now play, attend games and watch European leagues on television.

Christian Pulisic, now 27 and with AC Milan, is still the face of the program and the player expected to become the kind of star children want to emulate. Others in the core group include Chris Richards, Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie and Folarin Balogun. Mauricio Pochettino, the Argentine coach, is portrayed as knowledgeable and unusual, with the article citing his habit of keeping lemons in his office because he believes they absorb negative energy.

A Seton Hall University survey found that 33% of Americans, 81% of self-described soccer fans and 67% of sports fans plan to follow the tournament, up 4 to 7 points from the Qatar World Cup. But expectations for the U.S. team remain modest, with only 20% predicting a round-of-16 finish, 13% expecting a quarterfinal, and 8% believing the Americans can win the title. The piece says 70,492 fans will begin another summer romance with the national team and hope the relationship lasts beyond the group stage.