The United States men's national team kicks off its most important tournament before the World Cup on Sunday.

The 2024 Copa America, South America's international competition, is being played in the United States with six Concacaf nations joining the 10 CONMEBOL federations in a 16-team event.

Gregg Berhalter's side opens the tournament against Bolivia, who is traditionally one of the worst South American sides.

The USMNT is expected to get three points from the contest to start off Group C. Panama and Uruguay are the other two squads in the four-team group.

Christian Pulisic and Co. produced mixed results in the buildup to the Copa. They were blown out by Colombia but then held Brazil to a 1-1 draw.

The Americans have to be at their best against a weaker opponent to put themselves on track to advance out of the group stage.

Copa America Success Vital for USMNT

The USMNT does have to go through the rigors of World Cup qualifying because it is hosting the 2026 event with Canada and Mexico.

That makes the Copa America the most challenging competition the Americans will enter before hosting the World Cup.

The biggest challenges come further down the line in the tournament for the USMNT. It could face Brazil or Colombia in the quarterfinals.

However, a strong start in tournament play in mandatory to ensure a spot in the final eight.

Under Berhalter, the Americans played well overall at the Concacaf level, but struggled at times with opposition from other continents. They drew with Wales to start the 2022 World Cup and scored just two goals in the group stage.

Bolivia might be the weakest opponent the USMNT faces at the Copa America, so the task at hand is avoiding a drop down to the opponent's level.

The USMNT needs a clean multi-goal victory powered some of its stars to feel confident about its place in the tournament. That would be a change of pace for the first games of tournaments in the Berhalter era.

The Americans started the 2021 and 2023 Gold Cups with 1-0 and 1-1 results. Their last overpowering tournament opener was a 4-0 win over Guyana to start the 2019 Gold Cup.

Bolivia Should Struggle with USMNT's Quality

Bolivia is traditionally one of the worst of the 10 CONMEBOL sides at the Copa America.

Bolivia exited the last three Copas after the group stage. It conceded on 26 occasions in those competitions. Its goal differential is -20 in those events.

In 2021, Bolivia suffered multi-goal defeats to Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina in the Copa's typical format of two five-team groups.

The majority of Bolivia's team plays domestically in the Bolivian first division, which is nowhere close to the quality of leagues that the American players ply their talents in.

The talent gap between the USMNT and Bolivia is one of the largest you will see favor the Americans at a major tournament.

At their best, Pulisic, Timothy Weah and Weston McKennie should lead the Americans to a rout inside AT&T Stadium.

That would be a welcome result for the American camp and more of the same for Bolivia at the Copa America.

Prediction

Anything other than a multi-goal victory should be viewed as a disappointment for the USMNT.

The Americans should overwhelm Bolivia with their quality in the attacking third, led by Pulisic and Weah.

Berhalter's side should dominate the possession battle and put chances on the Bolivian net from the start.

Sunday's goal should be to have the result wrapped up by the 60-minute mark to give Pulisic and others some rest ahead of tougher group-stage games against Panama and Uruguay.

Prediction: USMNT 4, Bolivia 0