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Group A

This first game at the historic Azteca venue will replay the opener from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with Mexico. Mexico's elimination stage history at the worldwide showpiece features just one victory, secured against Bulgaria when they previously hosted in 1986. Their manager, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that squad and will be aiming for a third quarter-final berth as hosts. The South African side, led by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first finals since they hosted, finishing above Nigeria and Benin even after having a victory over Lesotho given against them for fielding an suspended footballer.

This will represent South Korea's eleventh consecutive finals appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came third in the Golden Ball voting when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. Hong is now their coach and led them unbeaten through a far from easy qualifying group. The final side in Group A will be the winner of a UEFA playoff featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

Canada have made it for the global finals on two occasions and, while Qatar 2022 yielded their maiden goal, it did not deliver their first-ever point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of arguably the best group of players in their nation's history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How kind the draw appears depends mostly on whether Italy make it 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 navigated 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 booked their ticket unbeaten from probably the most straightforward of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players hoping to feature at their fourth World Cups. The Qatari team, having finished in fourth in their third phase qualifying section, were given a major boost by being chosen as a tournament host for the fourth round and secured progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is selected exclusively from the Qatari league.

Pool C

Scotland's first World Cup in 28 years bears a lot like their previous outing, when they were defeated to Brazil and Morocco; the Haitian team occupy the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to make it to the knockout stage for the first time after 8 previous group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s only prior World Cup, in 1974, was notable 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 from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third manager in a qualifying campaign that included a streak of three consecutive defeats, but there is little 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 sides, capable both of overwhelming rivals and playing on the counter-attack, securing qualification with a 100% win record.

Group 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 friendlies. But over the past year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his message understood and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will start against Paraguay, who are competing in their sixth finals. They have won one game at each of the prior five, a record that has resulted to both group phase exits and a last-eight appearance. Their familiar defensive mindset has not altered: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

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

Pool E

Following back-to-back group phase exits, Die Mannschaft are no longer the feared force of old. The transition to a more attacking style has introduced a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like presenting a massive challenge 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 defence 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 constant declinism, where nothing is ever quite good as the glorious generation 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 qualifying, netting 25 goals without none.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side perhaps do not possess the star quality of past Dutch eras, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, always appears 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 far the most dominant of the Asian nations in qualification, losing one of their 16 games over the two groups, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side made sure of a third straight World Cup appearance by dominating a manageable qualification section, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as dour as certain past Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 separate scorers 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 create a repeat 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 golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualification, 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 successful side in African football history, but having failed to qualify during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully done themselves justice on the world stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them attacking threat, but it was a defensive unit that allowed only twice in 10 games that meant they qualified unbeaten.

A guaranteed place for Oceania effectively equated to a spot at the finals for the All Whites, who cruised 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. Team Melli, who lost once in a tricky third phase qualifying section, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially