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Pool A

The opening game at the famous Azteca venue will mirror the opener from 2010, when South Africa drew 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's knockout stage record at the global showpiece features just a single victory, secured against Bulgaria when they previously hosted in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that squad and will be targeting a third quarter-final berth as tournament hosts. South Africa, coached by veteran Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial World Cup since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a win over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an suspended player.

This will represent South Korea's 11th successive World Cup appearance. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished in third place in the Golden Ball award when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. Hong is now their coach and guided them unbeaten through a far from straightforward qualification group. The fourth team in Group A will be the winner of a European qualifying play-off involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

Canada have qualified for the global finals twice and, although Qatar 2022 brought their first finals goal, it did not deliver their first finals point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of probably the most talented 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 group appears depends mostly on whether the Italian national team progress through the UEFA playoff (the other three contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After 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 booked their ticket without defeat from arguably the easiest of the UEFA groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players aiming to play at their fourth World Cups. Qatar, having finished in fourth in their third phase qualifying section, were handed a major advantage by being chosen as a tournament host for the fourth round and secured qualification with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is drawn exclusively from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland first finals in 28 years looks a lot like their last outing, when they were defeated to the Seleção and the Atlas Lions; the Haitian team occupy the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the elimination phase for the very first time after 8 prior group phase eliminations. Haiti’s only previous finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats than for the fate that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a doping test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have limited traveling support due to travel restrictions involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third coach in a qualification campaign that included a streak of three successive defeats, but there is minimal jeopardy in South American qualifying these days. He has overseen a noticeable improvement. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the best of the north African nations, able both of dominating opponents and playing on the counter, qualifying with a perfect win record.

Pool D

Early last year, the USA seemed in a poor condition, 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 defeated Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will start 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 led to both group phase eliminations and a quarter-final appearance. Their familiar defensive approach has not altered: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most free-flowing Australian side and their roster 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 emerge from the winner of Europe’s playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

Following back-to-back group-stage exits, Die Mannschaft are no longer the feared force of old. The transition to a more progressive style has brought a fragility and the draw initially looked like posing a huge test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualifying, 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.

Ivory Coast live in a state of permanent pessimism, where nothing is ever quite 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 inspirational. After an improbable continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualifying, scoring 25 goals and conceding none.

The tiniest country ever to reach the finals, Curaçao, were the final team picked, however, making the group look a lot less daunting than it might have been.

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side perhaps lack the star quality of past Dutch generations, but they secured qualification unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualification, always appears a more reliable performer with his country's side than at domestic level. They open against Japan, who will participate in their eighth consecutive finals, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian sides in qualifying, losing one of their 16 games over the two groups, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side secured of a third straight World Cup appearance by topping a straightforward qualifying section, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as defensive as some past Tunisian teams; they had a staggering 14 separate goalscorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the European 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 executed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Group G

The Belgian Red Devils and the Pharaohs are moving on from the legacy of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualification, 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 decorated side in African history, but having failed to qualify during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite done themselves justice on the world stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them attacking threat, but it was a defence that conceded just twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified undefeated.

A guaranteed place for Oceania effectively equated to 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 FIFA-ranked side to have booked their place in North America next summer. Iran, who were defeated only once in a tricky third phase qualifying group, are on a travel ban, possibly