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Group A

The opening fixture at the famous Azteca Stadium will replay the opener from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's knockout stage record at the global tournament features just a single victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they last were hosts in 1986. Their manager, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that team and will be targeting a third quarter-final appearance as hosts. South Africa, led by experienced Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial World Cup since they hosted, finishing above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a win over Lesotho awarded against them for using an ineligible footballer.

This will represent South Korea's eleventh consecutive finals appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and finished third in the Golden Ball award when South Korea made the last four in 2002. Hong is now their coach and guided them unbeaten through a far from easy qualifying section. The final team in Group A will be the victor of a UEFA qualifying play-off featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

The Canadian team have made it for the global finals twice and, although Qatar 2022 brought their first goal, it did not bring their first-ever finals point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of probably the best squad in their nation's history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which favorable the draw appears depends mostly on whether Italy make it through the European play-off (the remaining 3 contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have navigated the group stage in four of the past five World Cups and were quarter-finalists at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified unbeaten from probably the easiest of the UEFA groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have individuals hoping to feature at their fourth World Cups. The Qatari team, having finished fourth in their third-round qualification group, were given a major advantage by being chosen as a host for the final round and clinched progress with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is selected exclusively from the domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland's first World Cup in 28 years looks a lot like their last outing, when they were defeated to the Seleção and Morocco; the Haitian team take the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to make it to the knockout phase for the very first time after 8 prior group-stage exits. Haiti’s only prior finals, in 1974, was notable less for their three defeats than for the fate that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a drugs test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have restricted away support due to travel restrictions involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third coach in a qualifying campaign that included a streak of three consecutive losses, but there is little risk in South American qualifying these days. He has presided over a clear improvement. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the best of the north African sides, able both of overwhelming rivals and playing on the counter-attack, qualifying with a perfect win record.

Pool D

At the start of last year, the United States seemed in a poor state, losing to Panama and Canada in the Concacaf Nations League and to Turkey and Switzerland in friendly matches. But over the past year, Mauricio Pochettino has apparently begun to get his message understood and in November the USA beat Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will begin against Paraguay, who are playing in their sixth World Cup. They have won one game at each of the prior five, a record that has led to both group-stage exits and a quarter-final place. Their trademark defensive mindset hasn't changed: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most free-flowing Australia team and their squad lacks obvious superstars, but in spite of an iffy start to the third round of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their last two fixtures. The pool's fourth team will come from the winner of Europe’s playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

After back-to-back group-stage exits, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The shift to a more progressive philosophy has introduced a vulnerability and the group initially looked like presenting a massive challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualification, finishing second behind Argentina in South America. While they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a defence featuring Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a mere five.

Côte d’Ivoire exist in a state of permanent declinism, where nothing is ever quite good as the glorious squad of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Emerse Faé has proved transformative. After an improbable continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, scoring 25 goals without none.

The smallest country ever to reach the finals, the Curaçao team, were the fourth team picked, though, making the group look a lot far less intimidating than it could have been.

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side perhaps lack the star quality of past Dutch generations, but they secured qualification without losing and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, consistently appears a more reliable performer with his national side than at club level. They begin against the Japanese team, who will participate in their eighth successive finals, and were by some way the most dominant of the Asian nations in qualifying, suffering one of their 16 games across the two groups, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia secured of a third consecutive World Cup berth by topping a straightforward qualifying section, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as dour as certain past Tunisian teams; they had a remarkable 14 different goalscorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the UEFA play-off (against Ukraine in the semi-final, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will create a repeat of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first executed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

Belgium and the Pharaohs are emerging from the legacy of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, scoring the net eight times but letting in five in two wins over Wales, scoring freely at times, but also laboring to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most decorated side in African football history, but having failed to qualify during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite done themselves justice on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defensive unit that conceded just twice in 10 games that meant they qualified undefeated.

A reserved place for Oceania effectively equated to a spot at the finals for the All Whites, who sailed through qualifying, winning five games out of five, scoring 29 goals, nine of them by Chris Wood, but they are the lowest-ranked side to have booked their place in North America next summer. Team Melli, who were defeated only once in a difficult third-round qualification group, are on a travel ban, possibly