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Group A

This opening game at the famous Azteca Stadium will replay the opener from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's elimination phase record at the global showpiece includes just a single win, achieved against Bulgaria when they last were hosts in 1986. Their coach, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that team and will be targeting a third quarter-final berth as tournament 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 despite having a win over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an ineligible player.

This will mark Korea Republic's 11th consecutive finals appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and finished in third place in the Best Player award when South Korea reached the semi-final in 2002. He is now their manager and led them unbeaten through a far from easy qualification 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 on two occasions and, while Qatar 2022 brought their maiden finals goal, it did not deliver their first point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of probably the most talented squad in their nation's history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How favorable the draw looks hinges mostly on whether Italy progress 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 navigated the group stage in four of the last five tournaments and were quarter-finalists at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified without defeat from probably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players hoping to feature at their fourth World Cups. Qatar, having finished in fourth in their third phase qualification section, were handed a significant boost by being selected as a host for the final round and secured qualification with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is drawn exclusively from the Qatari league.

Group C

Scotland first finals in 28 years bears a lot like their last appearance, when they were defeated to Brazil and the Atlas Lions; Haiti take the place of Norway. Their aim 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 losses than for the ordeal that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a doping test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have restricted traveling support due to travel restrictions from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third coach in a qualifying campaign that featured a streak of three consecutive losses, but there is little risk in South American qualification these days. He has overseen a clear upturn in form. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the strongest of the north African sides, capable both of overwhelming rivals and playing on the counter, qualifying with a 100% 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 friendlies. But over the last year, Mauricio Pochettino has apparently begun to get his ideas understood and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will begin against Paraguay, 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-stage eliminations and a last-eight place. Their familiar cautious 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 obvious stars, but in spite of an shaky beginning to the third phase of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side made it by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their last two fixtures. The group’s final team will emerge from the victor of Europe’s playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

After back-to-back group-stage exits, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more attacking style has introduced a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like presenting a huge test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualifying, finishing in second place behind Argentina in South America. While 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, conceded a paltry five.

Ivory Coast live in a state of constant declinism, where nothing is ever quite successful as the golden squad of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. Following an improbable continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualifying, netting 25 goals without reply.

The tiniest country ever to reach the finals, 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 lack the galacticos of previous Dutch eras, but they qualified without losing and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, consistently appears a more reliable player with his national side than at club level. They begin against Japan, who will play in their eighth successive World Cup, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian nations in qualifying, losing one of their 16 games over the two phases, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia secured of a third straight World Cup berth by topping a straightforward qualifying group, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are maybe not as defensive as certain past Tunisian sides; 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-final, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will set up a rematch of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first executed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

Belgium and Egypt are moving on from the legacy 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 easily at times, but also laboring 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 peak period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully fulfilled their potential on the global 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 undefeated.

A reserved place for Oceania effectively meant 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-ranked side to have booked their place in North America next summer. Team Melli, who lost only once in a tricky third phase qualifying section, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially