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Group A

The first fixture at the famous Azteca venue will mirror the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with El Tri. The Mexican team's elimination stage history at the worldwide tournament features just one victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they last were hosts in 1986. Their manager, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that squad and will be aiming for a third-ever quarter-final berth as tournament hosts. The South African side, coached by experienced Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial World Cup since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a win over Lesotho given against them for using an ineligible player.

This will mark South Korea's 11th successive finals qualification. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came in third place in the Golden Ball voting when South Korea made the semi-final in 2002. Hong is now their coach and guided them unbeaten through a anything but straightforward qualifying section. The final team in Group A will be the winner of a European playoff involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

Canada have made it for the global finals twice and, while Qatar 2022 brought their maiden goal, it did not deliver their first point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of arguably the best squad in their history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How favorable the draw appears hinges mostly on whether Italy progress through the European playoff (the remaining three contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following 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 past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified unbeaten from arguably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players aiming to play at their fourth World Cups. The Qatari team, having ended up fourth in their third phase qualification group, were given a major boost by being chosen as a host for the final phase and clinched qualification with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is selected exclusively from the Qatari league.

Group C

Scotland's first finals in 28 years bears a lot like their last outing, when they lost to the Seleção and the Atlas Lions; the Haitian team occupy the spot of Norway. Their primary objective will be to make it to the knockout phase for the first time after eight previous group phase exits. Haiti’s only previous finals, in 1974, was notable less for their three losses than for the ordeal that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a doping test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have limited traveling support due to a travel ban from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third manager in a qualification campaign that featured a run of three consecutive losses, but there is minimal risk in South American qualifying these days. He has presided over a noticeable improvement. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the strongest of the north African nations, able both of overwhelming rivals and playing on the counter, securing qualification with a perfect win record.

Group D

At the start of last year, the USA seemed in a poor condition, 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 seemingly begun to get his message understood and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will start against the Paraguayan side, who are playing in their sixth World Cup. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a record that has led to both group-stage exits and a quarter-final appearance. Their trademark cautious mindset has not altered: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most fluent Australian team and their squad lacks obvious superstars, but in spite of an shaky start to the third round of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their last two matches. The group’s final team will come from the victor of Europe’s Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

After successive group-stage exits, Die Mannschaft are no longer the feared force of old. The shift to a more attacking philosophy has brought a vulnerability and the group initially looked like posing a massive test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualification, ending up second behind Argentina in South America. Although they netted only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline including 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 live in a state of permanent declinism, where nothing is ever quite successful as the golden generation of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. Following an implausible continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, netting 25 goals and conceding reply.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side perhaps lack the galacticos of past Dutch eras, but they secured qualification unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualification, consistently looks a more reliable performer with his national side than at club level. They open against Japan, who will play 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 finals berth by dominating a manageable qualifying group, picking up 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as defensive as some previous Tunisian teams; they had a staggering 14 different scorers in qualification. 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 create a rematch of the group stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Group G

The Belgian Red Devils and Egypt are emerging from the shadow of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualification, scoring the net eight times but letting in five in two wins over Wales, scoring easily at times, but also laboring 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 fully done themselves justice on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them attacking threat, but it was a defence that conceded only twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified undefeated.

A reserved place for Oceania effectively meant a spot at the finals for the All Whites, who cruised through qualification, winning five games out of five, netting 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. Iran, who were defeated once in a difficult third-round qualification group, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly