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Pool A

This initial game at the iconic Azteca Stadium will echo the opener from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with Mexico. The Mexican team's elimination stage record at the worldwide showpiece includes just a single win, secured against Bulgaria when they previously were hosts in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that team and will be targeting a third last-eight berth as tournament hosts. South Africa, coached by veteran Belgian manager Hugo Broos, qualified for their initial World Cup since they hosted, ending above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a victory over Lesotho given against them for using an ineligible player.

It will mark Korea Republic's eleventh consecutive finals qualification. Icon Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and came third in the Golden Ball award when South Korea reached the semi-final in 2002. He is now their manager and guided them without a loss through a anything but straightforward qualification section. The final team in Group A will be the winner of a European playoff featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

The Canadian team have qualified for the World Cup twice and, while Qatar 2022 brought their maiden finals goal, it did not deliver their first point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of probably the best squad in their nation's history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How favorable the draw appears hinges largely on whether Italy make it through the European playoff (the other three teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have got through the group stage in four of the last five World Cups and were quarter-finalists at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified unbeaten from arguably the easiest of the UEFA groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players aiming to feature at their fourth World Cups. Qatar, having ended up fourth in their third phase qualification section, were given a major advantage by being selected as a tournament host for the final round and clinched progress with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected exclusively from the Qatari league.

Pool C

Scotland's return to the finals in 28 years bears a lot like their previous outing, when they were defeated to Brazil and the Atlas Lions; the Haitian team occupy the spot of Norway. Their aim will be to make it to the elimination stage for the first time after eight previous group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s sole previous finals, in 1974, was notable less for their three losses than for the fate that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a doping test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have limited away support due to travel restrictions involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third manager in a qualification process that featured a run of three successive defeats, but there is minimal jeopardy in South American qualification these days. He has presided over a noticeable improvement. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the strongest of the north African nations, capable both of dominating opponents and playing on the counter, securing qualification with a 100% 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 friendlies. But over the last year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his message across and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will begin against the Paraguayan side, who are playing in their 6th finals. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has resulted to both group-stage eliminations and a last-eight place. Their familiar cautious mindset has not changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australia team and their squad is without obvious stars, but in spite of an shaky start to the third round of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side made it by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their final two fixtures. The group’s final team will emerge from the winner of the European playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following back-to-back group phase eliminations, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The shift to a more attacking style has introduced a fragility and the group initially looked like presenting a huge test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualifying, ending up in second place behind Argentina in South America. Although they netted only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline featuring Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, protected by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, let in a mere five.

Ivory Coast live in a state of permanent pessimism, where nothing is ever quite successful as the golden squad of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved transformative. After an improbable continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, netting 25 goals without none.

The tiniest country ever to reach the finals, the Curaçao team, were the fourth team drawn, however, making the group look a lot less intimidating than it might have appeared.

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side perhaps do not possess the galacticos of past Dutch generations, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualification, always appears a more effective player with his national side than at club level. They open against Japan, who will participate in their 8th successive finals, and were by far the most dominant of the Asian sides in qualification, suffering one of their 16 games across the two groups, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia made sure of a third consecutive World Cup berth by topping a manageable qualifying group, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are maybe not as dour as some previous Tunisian teams; they had a remarkable 14 separate goalscorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the European play-off (against Ukraine in the semi-final, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will create a rematch of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Group G

The Belgian Red Devils and the Pharaohs are moving on from the shadow of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualifying, finding the net eight times but conceding five in two wins over Wales, finding goals easily at times, but also struggling to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most successful side in African history, but having not managed to reach the finals during their peak 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 only twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified unbeaten.

A reserved place for Oceania effectively meant a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who sailed through qualification, winning five games out of five, scoring 29 goals, nine of them by Chris Wood, but they are the lowest-ranked side to have secured their place in North America next summer. Iran, who lost once in a tricky third-round qualifying section, are on a travel ban, potentially