England is considered the favorite in this group, despite the broken metatarsal that will sideline sensational 20-year-old forward Wayne Rooney for at least the opening round. Paraguay has reached the second round in the last two World Cups. Sweden has tormented England and its Swedish-born coach, Sven-Goran Eriksson, and the two teams played to a 1-1 draw in the 2002 World Cup.

ENGLAND
An exam of Rooney's broken foot Thursday should spread comfort or consternation throughout England. But even if Rooney is not able to play a minute in the World Cup, there are plenty of other potential heroes. Newcastle forward Michael Owen believes he has fully recovered from his own foot injury and is primed for his third World Cup. John Terry, Frank Lampard and Rio Ferdinand are elite players in the English Premier League, and midfielder David Beckham is an international star with Real Madrid following a memorable run with Manchester United. Towering defender Sol Campbell may be a factor again after playing well and scoring a header goal in Arsenal's 2-1 loss to Barcelona in the Champions League final.
FIFA world ranking: No. 10.
Player to watch:
Steven Gerrard, midfielder. The Liverpool star recently volunteered to play as a second striker if Eriksson needed him to play that role in Rooney's absence. Gerrard clearly can handle pressure situations - he led Liverpool back from a 3-0 deficit to defeat AC Milan in last year's Champions League final, and he had two goals, including one in second-half injury time, as Liverpool rallied for a 3-3 draw and penalty shootout decision over West Ham United in the FA Cup final last week. "Fortunately, the player who has helped us in both (games) is English," Liverpool and England defender Jamie Carragher said. "Steven Gerrard - I'd put him in the top five or six players in the world."

PARAGUAY
Uruguayan coach Anibal Ruiz will try to reach the second round or beyond, continuing the success Paraguay has found in the last two World Cups. In 1998 Chilavert was at his peak as Paraguay was unbeaten in the opening round and battled host France on even terms in a round-of-16 match before finally falling on Laurent Blanc's golden goal. Germany knocked out Paraguay at the same stage in 2002 on Oliver Neuville's goal in the final 2 minutes. Justo Villar has replaced Chilavert in goal, while youngsters Julio dos Santos and Edgar Barreto key the midfield. Also on the squad are 18-year-old midfielder Jose Montiel and 35-year-old forward Jose Cardozo.
FIFA world ranking: No. 33.
Player to watch:
Roque Santa Cruz, forward. The 24-year-old Bayern Munich player is back after missing most of the Bundesliga season with an anterior cruciate ligament injury. He has played for the famed German club team since 1999. A native of Asuncion, he scored the winning goal in a South American qualifying victory over Argentina, and four years ago he scored in a 2-2 World Cup draw with South Africa.

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
It seemed nearly impossible that the tiny Caribbean nation would qualify for the World Cup, especially when it needed to beat Mexico in its final qualifying game. And that was just for the right to advance to a two-game playoff with Asian entrant Bahrain. But the Soca Warriors beat Mexico, 2-1, in Port of Spain, Trinidad, and survived with a hard-fought, 2-1 aggregate victory over Bahrain to punch their tickets for Germany. Former Columbus Crew star Stern John and 37-year-old Russell Latapy have helped show the way for the squad's younger players.
FIFA world ranking: No. 47.
Player to watch:

Dwight Yorke, forward. The former Manchester United star has experienced a revival in the past year while playing club soccer in Australia and helping the Soca Warriors reach the World Cup for the first time. At age 34, he has been handed the captain's armband for his country. "Despite all the things I've won, as a kid growing up you dream that one day you'll represent your country in a World Cup, but I felt that opportunity had gone," Yorke said.

SWEDEN
The Swedes appear well-fortified in the attack, led by Barcelona's Henrik Larsson, Arsenal's Fredrik Ljungberg and Juventus' Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Ljungberg and Ibrahimovic each had seven goals in European qualifying, and Larsson added four as the Swedes won eight of 10 games. But Swedish coach Lars Largerback has admitted to a few concerns over his defense - he dropped right back Alexander Ostlund from the final roster and instead included Mikael Nilsson, Karl Svensson and Fredrik Stenman. Andreas Isaksson (Stade Rennes) is the first-team goalkeeper. Sweden placed third in the 1994 World Cup played in the U.S., and it reached the final 16 in 2002, winning a group that included England and Argentina before falling in the first knockout stage to Senegal.
FIFA world ranking: No. 16.
Player to watch:
Henrik Larsson, forward. The 34-year-old might have the biggest smile of anyone at the World Cup after coming off the bench to set up two late goals in Barcelona's Champions League final victory over Arsenal. His flick to Samuel Eto'o allowed Barcelona to tie the score, and he made an astonishing pass to Juliano Belletti for the winning goal a few minutes later. Larsson will try to show the same creativity and savvy while appearing in his third World Cup before returning home to Helsingborg to finish his playing days.

GROUP SCHEDULE
June 10 - England vs. Paraguay, 8 a.m. (Milwaukee time) at Frankfurt; Trinidad & Tobago vs. Sweden, 11 a.m. at Dortmund;

June 15 - England vs. Trinidad & Tobago, 11 a.m. at Nuremberg; Sweden vs. Paraguay, 2 p.m. at Berlin;

June 20 - Sweden vs. England, 2 p.m. at Cologne; Paraguay vs. Trinidad & Tobago, 2 p.m.