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Group A

The initial fixture at the historic Azteca Stadium will replay the opener from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with Mexico. The Mexican team's knockout stage history at the global showpiece features just a single win, secured against Bulgaria when they previously hosted in 1986. Their coach, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that squad and will be targeting a third-ever last-eight appearance as hosts. South Africa, coached by veteran Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first World Cup since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite having a victory over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an ineligible player.

This will mark Korea Republic's 11th consecutive World Cup appearance. Legend Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and finished in third place in the Golden Ball voting when South Korea made the last four in 2002. He is now their manager and led them unbeaten through a anything but straightforward qualification group. The final team in Group A will be the victor of a UEFA playoff involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

Canada have made it for the World Cup on two occasions and, although Qatar 2022 brought their maiden finals goal, it did not deliver their first-ever point. Jesse Marsch is the manager 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 group appears hinges mostly on whether Italy progress through the UEFA play-off (the remaining three teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have got through the initial phase in four of the past five tournaments and were last-eight participants at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket without defeat from probably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have individuals aiming to play at their fourth finals. Qatar, having ended up fourth in their third-round qualification section, were handed a significant boost by being selected as a host for the final round and clinched progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected entirely from the Qatari league.

Group C

Scotland first finals in 28 years bears a lot like their last outing, when they were defeated to Brazil and Morocco; the Haitian team take the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to make it to the knockout phase for the very first time after 8 previous group-stage exits. Haiti’s sole previous finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three losses than for the fate that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a doping test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have limited away support due to travel restrictions involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third coach in a qualifying campaign that featured a run of three successive losses, but there is minimal 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, capable both of overwhelming rivals and playing on the counter-attack, qualifying with a 100% 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 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 secured one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has led to both group phase exits and a quarter-final place. Their trademark defensive approach hasn't altered: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most free-flowing Australia side and their squad is without clear stars, but despite an iffy beginning to the third phase of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side made it by defeating 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 the European playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following back-to-back group phase exits, Germany are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more progressive style has introduced a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like posing a massive test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the surprise package of qualification, ending up second behind Argentina in South America. While they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline featuring Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, protected by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a mere five.

Ivory Coast exist in a state of permanent pessimism, where nothing is ever quite successful as the glorious squad of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved transformative. After an implausible continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, netting 25 goals and conceding none.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe lack the galacticos of past Dutch eras, but they secured qualification without losing and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, consistently appears a more reliable player with his country's side than at domestic level. They open against Japan, who will play in their eighth successive World Cup, and were by far the most dominant of the Asian sides in qualifying, 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 topping a manageable qualifying group, picking up 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as defensive as some previous Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 different goalscorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the UEFA playoff (against Ukraine in the semi-final, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will create a repeat of the group stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

The Belgian Red Devils and the Pharaohs are moving on from the legacy of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualification, finding the net eight times but conceding five in two wins over Wales, scoring freely 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 reach the finals during their peak period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully fulfilled their potential on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defensive unit that allowed just twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified unbeaten.

A reserved place for Oceania essentially equated to a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who sailed through qualifying, 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 lost once in a difficult third phase qualifying section, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly