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Group A

The opening match at the historic Azteca Stadium will replay the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with Mexico. Mexico's knockout stage record at the worldwide tournament features just a single victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they previously hosted in 1986. Their coach, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that squad and will be aiming for a third-ever quarter-final berth as hosts. The South African side, led by veteran Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial World Cup since hosting, ending above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a win over Lesotho awarded against them for using an ineligible player.

It will represent Korea Republic's eleventh successive finals qualification. Legend Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and came in third place in the Best Player voting when South Korea made the semi-final in 2002. Hong is now their manager and led them without a loss through a anything but easy qualifying group. The final team 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.

Pool B

Canada have qualified for the World Cup twice and, while Qatar 2022 brought their first finals goal, it did not deliver their first finals point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of probably the best group of players in their nation's history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which kind the draw looks depends mostly on whether the Italian national team make it through the UEFA play-off (the other 3 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 past five World Cups and were quarter-finalists at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket without defeat from probably the most straightforward of the UEFA groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players aiming to play at their fourth World Cups. Qatar, having finished fourth in their third phase qualifying group, were given a significant advantage by being chosen as a tournament host for the final round and clinched progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is drawn exclusively from the Qatari league.

Pool C

Scotland's first finals in 28 years bears a lot like their last outing, when they were defeated to the Seleção and the Atlas Lions; Haiti occupy the spot of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the elimination stage for the first time after eight previous group-stage exits. Haiti’s sole prior World Cup, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats than for the fate that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a drugs test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have limited traveling support due to travel restrictions from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third manager in a qualification campaign that included a streak of three consecutive defeats, but there is little risk in South American qualifying these days. He has overseen a noticeable improvement. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the best of the north African sides, able both of overwhelming opponents and playing on the counter, qualifying with a perfect record.

Pool D

Early last year, the United States seemed in a poor condition, losing to Panama and Canada in the Concacaf Nations League and to Turkey and Switzerland in friendlies. But over the past year, Mauricio Pochettino has apparently begun to get his message across 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 6th World Cup. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has led to both group phase eliminations and a last-eight appearance. Their trademark defensive approach has not changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most fluent Australian team and their roster is without clear superstars, but despite an shaky start to the third phase of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their last two fixtures. The pool's fourth team will come from the victor of Europe’s Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following successive group-stage exits, Germany are no longer the bogeymen of old. The shift to a more progressive philosophy has introduced a fragility and the group initially looked like posing a massive challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the revelations of qualifying, finishing in second place behind Argentina in South America. Although they netted 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, let in a mere five.

Ivory Coast live in a state of constant declinism, where nothing is ever as good as the glorious generation of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Emerse Faé has proved transformative. After an improbable continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, scoring 25 goals and conceding none.

The smallest country ever to qualify, Curaçao, were the fourth team picked, however, making the group look a lot less intimidating than it might have been.

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe lack the star quality of previous Dutch generations, but they qualified without losing and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, consistently looks a more effective player with his national side than at club level. They begin against Japan, who will play in their 8th successive World Cup, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian sides in qualifying, losing one of their 16 games over the two phases, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia made sure of a third consecutive finals berth by topping a manageable qualification group, picking up 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are perhaps not as dour as certain past Tunisian sides; they had a remarkable 14 different goalscorers in qualifying. 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 set up a repeat of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Group G

Belgium and the Pharaohs are moving on from the legacy 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, scoring easily at times, but also struggling to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most decorated side in African football history, but having failed to reach the finals during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite fulfilled their potential on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, 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 sailed through qualification, winning five games out of five, scoring 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. Team Melli, who lost once in a difficult third-round qualification section, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially