Their team failed to achieve automatic qualification for the first time since the sport was introduced at Atlanta 1996, having finished lost to Canada in the gold medal match at last year’s Parapan American Games in Toronto.

The world number two ranked country will look to erase that defeat from their memory as they head into the six-team tournament at the Stade Louis Lumière, with competition due to take place until Friday (April 22).

Chuck Aoki and Josh Wheeler are tipped to play a key role for the American team, as they seek to join Canada, Australia, Britain, Sweden, Japan and hosts Brazil at the Games.

A narrow 58-57 loss to Sweden in the European Championships semi-finals in Finland last September saw Denmark miss out on an automatic spot at Rio 2016.

As the second highest ranked nation heading into the competition, they will be confident of qualifying for the Games for the first time.

They defeated Germany to win the bronze medal at the European Championship and will face their rivals again in Paris, while hosts France will be heavily backed by the home crowd.

New Zealand and Finland will also contest the first-ever Paralympic wheelchair rugby qualifier.

Finland are due to open the tournament when they take on France.

The Finnish team were invited to play in the tournament after Ireland were forced to withdraw, with their team now led by new head coaches Jussi Immonen and Osku Kuutamo.

The pair are being assisted by Canada’s Benoit Labrecque, who in his role as the head coach of the Swedish team will already be leading a team at Rio 2016.

Following the group stage contests, classification matches will then take place on Wednesday (April 20) before the top four countries battle it out in the semi-finals the following day.

The two sides who reach the final will both earn a spot at this summer’s Paralympics, due to take place from September 7 to 18.