Gold Cup preview: Title contenders, best group games, USA's key player

It's been a year since the 2014 World Cup, and just a day or two since the American women lifted their third world championship in Canada. But the next major tournament for a United States national team is already here, with the men embarking on the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup, which will crown a champion of North and Central America and the Caribbean.

[Gold Cup: Scores and Schedule | Group Standings | Teams]

Their title defense begins on Tuesday night and, if all goes well, runs through the July 26 final in Philadelphia. But first, here is FC Yahoo's crash course to get you up to speed.

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United States

With recent friendly wins against the Netherlands and Germany, and a 4-0 mauling of Guatemala in a pre-tournament tune-up, the Americans at last have some moment going for them. But theirs is a brutal draw – by CONCACAF standards anyway – pitting them against Honduras, Panama and Haiti in the group stage. And in all likelihood, the only way to avoid Costa Rica until the semifinals and Mexico until the final is to win that deathly Group A.

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The Yanks have won this tournament five times in the dozen editions held so far, but it might never have been as hard as it could prove this time around, with all of the A-teams present – unlike every second tournament, when teams spare their first string for World Cup qualifying and send their reserves, as in 2013. All the same, anything less than a sixth regional title will be a disappointment.

Mexico

El Tri was handed a fairly soft draw – Group C with Guatemala, Trinidad and Tobago, and Cuba – but then this has been a hugely confusing team in the last year and a half. They barely qualified for the World Cup – thanks to a late American equalizer and winner against Panama in the final round of qualifiers – after a horrid stretch. They rediscovered their form in Brazil, but have gone cold in the last month.

A B-team made no impression on the Copa America at all, going winless, and the A-team had only draws to show for the recent friendlies against Costa Rica and Honduras. Add to that star striker Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez's shoulder injury from the most recent game, and things don't look so rosy for the record six-time champions, either.

Costa Rica

Don't look now, but the highest-ranked team in CONCACAF – by nine places – is Costa Rica, thanks to their Cinderella run to the World Cup quarterfinals, where they lost to the Dutch on penalties. Plainly, the Ticos are the rising power of the region. They also have a manageable draw in Group B with Jamaica, Canada and El Salvador.

But then again, Costa Rica has yet to win in 2015, losing three and tying two of its five games. It is a fairly young but experienced team that won the Copa Centroamericana in September. But they will need to overturn their recent fortunes.

Honduras

These have not been banner years for the Catrachos. They won just three of their 15 games in 2014, losing nine, including all their games at the World Cup. And so far in 2015, they are 2-4-2 (W-L-T). After placing fifth at the Copa Centroamericana – barely – they needed a playoff with puny French Guiana just to qualify for this tournament, which they scraped out on a 4-3 aggregate, thanks to a 3-0 win at home.

That said, what this team lacks in talent, it has historically made up for with cohesion and savvy. And if they can find the right formula and survive the group stage, they could make a run.

Panama

As a team that is a greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts collective above all, the Canaleros were the sensations of the 2013 tournament, twice beating Mexico – including in the semifinals – and only falling to the Americans 1-0 in the final. Then they very nearly qualified for the World Cup, with very late goals in their final qualifier with the USA eventually dooming their campaign in the dying minutes.

With the full A-teams present, it'll be hard for them to replicate all of that success – or near-success, to be more precise – but Panama has demonstrated that you underestimate it at your peril.

TOURNAMENT FORMAT

Three groups of four teams will play a round robin before the top two teams advance to the quarterfinals automatically. The best two of the three third-place teams will go through to the knockout stages as well. From there, it's a one-and-done, single-elimination playoff.

BEST GROUP STAGE GAMES

July 7: United States vs. Honduras, 9:30 p.m. ET
July 8: Costa Rica vs. Jamaica; 8 p.m. ET
July 9: Mexico vs. Cuba, 9.30 p.m. ET
July 10: Honduras vs. Panama, 6 p.m. ET
July 10: United States vs. Haiti, 8:30pm ET
July 12: Guatemala vs. Mexico, 9 p.m. ET
July 13: Panama vs. United States, 9:30 p.m. ET
July 14: Canada vs Costa Rica, 8:30 p.m. ET
July 15: Mexico vs. Trinidad and Tobago, 8:30 p.m. ET

KEY USA PLAYERS

Michael Bradley

His new status as team captain confirms what we've known for some time: Bradley is the most important – and influential – player on the team. The central midfielder orchestrates the attack from deep and does yeoman's work helping out the defense.

Michael Bradley

He's so important we thought he should be mentioned twice.

Michael Bradley

Seriously. Super important. No Michael Bradley; no party. (Well, on the field, anyway.)

Clint Dempsey

Stripped of his captaincy in the wake of an incident of referee abuse at a U.S. Open Cup game, Dempsey remains an instrumental player. He continues to provide the attacking spark, playing off the advanced striker.

Jozy Altidore

Altidore is typically that advanced striker, acting as a target man for his teammates to play balls forward. While he has been maddeningly streaky in his goal scoring, Altidore has grown ever more reliable in his hold-up play.

Alejandro Bedoya

An unsung midfielder who has quietly garnered a great deal of respect in the French league, Bedoya can play in any spot in the midfield and provide just about anything the team needs.

DeAndre Yedlin

Playing out of his natural right back position on the right flank, Yedlin has quickly established himself as a difference maker for the USA with his blistering speed and offensive instinct. With plenty of opponents certain to bunker in against the Americans, his runs could help break open oppositions.

Leander Schaerlaeckens is a soccer columnist for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter @LeanderAlphabet.