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Pool A

The first game at the famous Azteca venue will mirror the first game from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with Mexico. Mexico's knockout phase history at the global showpiece features just a single victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they previously hosted in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that team and will be targeting a third last-eight appearance as tournament hosts. The South African side, led by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first World Cup since they hosted, finishing above Nigeria and Benin even after having a win over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an suspended player.

It will represent Korea Republic's eleventh straight World Cup qualification. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished in third place in the Best Player voting when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. He is now their manager and guided them without a loss through a far from easy qualification section. The final side in Group A will be the winner of a European qualifying play-off featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

Canada have qualified for the World Cup on two occasions and, although Qatar 2022 brought their maiden goal, it did not bring their first point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of arguably the most talented squad in their history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How kind the group appears hinges mostly on whether Italy make it through the UEFA play-off (the other three contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have got through the group stage in four of the last five tournaments and were last-eight participants at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket unbeaten from arguably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast individuals hoping to feature at their fourth finals. The Qatari team, having finished fourth in their third-round qualifying group, were handed a significant advantage by being chosen as a host for the fourth round and secured qualification with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is drawn entirely from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland return to the finals in 28 years bears a lot like their last appearance, when they were defeated to Brazil and Morocco; Haiti occupy the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to make it to the elimination stage for the first time after 8 prior group-stage exits. Haiti’s sole previous finals, in 1974, was notable less for their three defeats than for the ordeal that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a doping test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have restricted away support due to a travel ban involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third manager in a qualification process that featured a streak of three successive losses, but there is little risk in South American qualifying these days. He has overseen a noticeable improvement. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the best of the north African sides, capable both of overwhelming rivals and playing on the counter, qualifying with a perfect win record.

Pool D

At the start of last year, the USA seemed in a poor state, suffering defeats 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 routing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will start against the Paraguayan side, who are competing in their 6th World Cup. They have secured one game at each of the prior five, a statistic that has resulted to both group phase eliminations and a quarter-final place. Their trademark cautious mindset hasn't changed: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most free-flowing Australia team and their squad lacks obvious stars, but in spite of an iffy start to the third phase of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side made it by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their last two matches. The group’s final team will come from the winner of the European Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

After successive group phase eliminations, Germany are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more progressive style has brought a fragility and the group initially looked like posing a huge test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualifying, finishing in second place behind Argentina in South America. Although they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline featuring Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, let in a paltry five.

Côte d’Ivoire exist in a state of permanent pessimism, where nothing is ever quite successful as the golden generation of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. After an implausible continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, scoring 25 goals without none.

The smallest country ever to qualify, Curaçao, were the final team drawn, however, making the group look a lot far less intimidating than it could have appeared.

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe do not possess the star quality of previous Dutch generations, but they secured qualification unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, consistently looks a more reliable performer with his national side than at domestic level. They open against the Japanese team, who will participate in their 8th consecutive World Cup, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian nations in qualifying, losing one of their 16 games over the two groups, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side made sure of a third consecutive World Cup appearance by dominating a straightforward qualification section, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are perhaps not as defensive as certain past Tunisian teams; they had a remarkable 14 separate scorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the European playoff (against Ukraine in the semi-final, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will set up a rematch of the group stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first executed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

Belgium and the Pharaohs are moving on from the legacy of golden 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 laboring to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

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

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