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Group A

This initial fixture at the iconic Azteca venue will echo the opener from 2010, when Bafana Bafana drew 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's knockout phase history at the global tournament features just a single victory, secured against Bulgaria when they previously were hosts in 1986. Their coach, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be aiming for a third quarter-final berth as hosts. South Africa, led by experienced Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first finals since they hosted, finishing above Nigeria and Benin even after having a win over Lesotho given against them for using an suspended footballer.

It will mark South Korea's eleventh consecutive World Cup appearance. Legend Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and finished third in the Golden Ball voting when South Korea reached the semi-final in 2002. Hong is now their manager and guided them without a loss through a far from easy qualification group. The final side in Group A will be the victor of a UEFA qualifying play-off involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

The Canadian team have qualified for the World Cup twice and, while Qatar 2022 yielded their maiden finals goal, it did not deliver their first point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of arguably the most talented squad in their nation's history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which kind the draw appears hinges largely on whether the Italian national team make it through the European playoff (the other three contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland 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 qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players hoping to play at their fourth World Cups. Qatar, having ended up in fourth in their third-round qualifying section, were handed a major advantage by being selected as a host for the fourth round and clinched qualification with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected entirely from the Qatari league.

Pool C

Scotland return to the World Cup in 28 years looks a lot like their previous appearance, when they lost to Brazil and Morocco; Haiti occupy the place of Norway. Their aim will be to make it to the knockout phase for the very first time after 8 prior group phase exits. Haiti’s sole prior finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three losses than for the fate that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a doping test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have restricted away support due to travel restrictions from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third manager in a qualification process that included a run of three successive defeats, but there is little risk in South American qualification these days. He has presided over a noticeable upturn in form. 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, qualifying with a perfect win record.

Pool D

At the start of last year, the United States seemed in a dismal state, suffering defeats to Panama and Canada in the Concacaf Nations League and to Turkey and Switzerland in friendly matches. But over the last year, Mauricio Pochettino has apparently begun to get his message across and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will begin against Paraguay, who are competing in their sixth finals. They have won 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 has not changed: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most fluent Australia team and their squad is without clear superstars, but despite an iffy start to the third phase of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their last two fixtures. The pool's fourth team will come from the winner of the European playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

After successive group phase exits, Germany are no longer the bogeymen of old. The shift to a more attacking style has brought a fragility and the group initially looked like posing a huge test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the revelations of qualifying, ending up in second place behind Argentina in South America. Although they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline including Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, protected by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, let in a paltry five.

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

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe do not possess the galacticos of past Dutch eras, but they qualified without losing and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualification, consistently appears a more effective performer with his country's side than at domestic level. They open against the Japanese team, who will play in their 8th consecutive finals, and were by far the most dominant of the Asian sides in qualifying, suffering one of their 16 games across the two phases, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia secured of a third consecutive World Cup appearance by topping a straightforward qualification section, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as defensive as some previous Tunisian teams; they had a remarkable 14 separate goalscorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the UEFA play-off (against Ukraine in the semi, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will set up a repeat of the group stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first executed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Group G

Belgium and Egypt are moving on from the shadow of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualification, finding the net eight times but letting in five in two wins over Wales, scoring freely at times, but also laboring to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most decorated side in African football history, but having not managed to reach the finals during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite done themselves justice on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them attacking threat, but it was a defensive unit that allowed just twice in 10 games that meant they qualified unbeaten.

A reserved place for Oceania effectively meant a spot at the finals for New Zealand, 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 lost once in a tricky third-round qualifying group, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially