A group of death in a multi-stage tournament is a group which is unusually competitive, because the number of strong competitors in the group is greater than the number of qualifying places available for the next phase of the tournament. Thus, in the group phase, one or more strong competitors in the "group of death" will necessarily be eliminated, who would otherwise have been expected to progress further in the tournament. The informal term was first used for groups in the FIFA World Cup finals. It is now also used in other association football tournaments and other sports.

After the draw for a tournament has been made, debates often arise about which of the preliminary groups is "the" group of death. This happens for several reasons: in part, from more general debates about the relative strengths of the various competitors; but, additionally, because there is no exact definition of the term "group of death". Sometimes the term simply means the group with the strongest competitors, implying there is always precisely one such group; other definitions allow for multiple groups of death, and for none at all. The term is sometimes derided as a journalistic cliché or oversimplification.

Clinton Drew "Clint" Dempsey (born March 9, 1983) is an American association football player who plays for Fulham and the United States national team. He usually plays as a deep-lying forward.

Growing up in Nacogdoches, Texas, Dempsey played for one of the top youth soccer clubs in the state, the Dallas Texans, before playing for Furman University's men's soccer team. In 2004, Dempsey was drafted by Major League Soccer club New England Revolution, where he quickly integrated himself into the starting lineup. Hindered initially by a jaw injury, he would eventually score 25 goals in 71 appearances with the Revolution. Since 2007, Dempsey has played for Premier League team Fulham and has earned the club record for goals scored in Premier League matches.

Dempsey first represented the United States at the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship in the United Arab Emirates. He made his first appearance with the senior team on November 17, 2004, against Jamaica; he was then named to the squad for the 2006 World Cup and scored the team's only goal of the tournament. Dempsey recorded the fastest goal in U.S. World Cup qualifying history by scoring after 53 seconds of an eventual 8–0 defeat of Barbados. In the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Dempsey scored against England, becoming the second American, after Brian McBride to score goals in multiple World Cup tournaments. Dempsey became the first American player to score a hat-trick in the English Premier League in the 5–2 win over Newcastle United in January 2012.

James "Jimmy" Conrad (born February 12, 1977, in Arcadia, California) is a retired American soccer defender who last played for Chivas USA in Major League Soccer. During his 13 year MLS career, he was four-time MLS Best XI and the 2005 MLS Defender of the Year. He also earned 27 caps with the United States men's national soccer team and went to the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Conrad attended Temple City High School in Temple City, California and was a four-year letterman in soccer. Conrad played at San Diego State University in 1994 and 1995, and then transferred to the University of California, Los Angeles. While playing for UCLA, he was a member of the 1997 NCAA Championship team.

Undrafted by MLS, Conrad had an unsuccessful trial with the Los Angeles Galaxy. However, the Galaxy coaching staff recommended he play for one of their affiliated lower division teams. Consequently, Conrad contacted the now-defunct San Diego Flash of the A-League which gave him a contract. In 1999, Brian Quinn became the head coach of the San Jose Clash. When Quinn began searching for an additional defender and goalkeeper for the Clash, Ralf Wilhelms, head coach of the Flash and a former teammate of Quinn on the San Diego Sockers, recommended Conrad and Flash goalkeeper Joe Cannon. The Clash signed Conrad that year. He played with the club, later re-branded as the Earthquakes, for four seasons, helping them to the MLS Cup in 2001. In 2000, he also played for Lech Poznań in Poland.

Asamoah Gyan (born 22 November 1985 in Accra) is a Ghanaian professional footballer and a part-time rapper, who plays as a striker for Sunderland of the Premier League.

Gyan shot to prominence after scoring three goals at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and also missing a crucial penalty kick in the last minute of extra-time in Ghana's quarter-final defeat by Uruguay.

Having signed for Udinese in 2003 from Ghanaian club Liberty Professionals located in his hometown of Accra, Gyan spent two years on loan at Serie B club Modena to gain match experience. Following some excellent displays during the 2006 World Cup, he attracted interest from Russian club Lokomotiv Moscow. Gyan returned to Udinese at the start of 2006, but on 17 February 2007, Udinese pulled out of a deal to sell him in the January transfer window. The striker was on the verge of signing a 3-year deal with Russian Club Lokomotiv Moscow for US$10.5m, the fourth largest transfer fee in Russian football history. "The striker Udinese targeted to replace me did not sign for them," Gyan told BBC Sport. "I've been told I will now have to stay in Italy for the rest of the season."

Josmer Volmy "Jozy" Altidore (born November 6, 1989) is an American soccer player currently playing for Eredivisie side AZ Alkmaar, and for the United States national team.

Altidore made his professional debut in 2006 at the age of 16 with the New York Red Bulls. In the middle of his third season with New York, in 2008, he made a transfer to Villarreal. During his time with Villarreal, he left on three loan stints – with Spanish Segunda División club Xerez in February–May 2009, English Premier League club Hull City for the entire 2009–10 season, and Turkish club Bursaspor where he went on a six month loan. In the summer of 2011, he made the switch to AZ Alkmaar.

Altidore has represented the United States on various levels of international competition, featuring for the United States U-17 team at the 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship, U-20 team at the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup, the U-23 team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and the senior national team at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and 2010 FIFA World Cup.