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Pool A

This first game at the famous Azteca Stadium will mirror the opener from 2010, when South Africa drew 1-1 with El Tri. The Mexican team's elimination phase history at the worldwide showpiece includes just one win, achieved against Bulgaria when they last were hosts in 1986. Their coach, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that squad and will be aiming for a third quarter-final appearance as tournament hosts. South Africa, coached by veteran Belgian manager Hugo Broos, qualified for their first World Cup since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a win over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an suspended player.

It will represent South Korea's 11th successive finals qualification. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came in third place in the Golden Ball award when South Korea reached the semi-final in 2002. Hong is now their manager and led them without a loss through a far from easy qualifying section. The final side in Group A will be the winner of a UEFA qualifying play-off featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

Canada have qualified for the global finals twice and, while Qatar 2022 brought their maiden finals goal, it did not deliver their first finals point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of probably the best squad in their history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which kind the draw looks depends mostly 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 navigated the group stage in four of the past five tournaments and were last-eight participants at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket unbeaten from arguably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players hoping to feature at their fourth World Cups. The Qatari team, having ended up fourth in their third-round qualifying section, were given a significant boost by being selected as a tournament host for the fourth phase and secured qualification with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is drawn exclusively from the Qatari league.

Pool C

Scotland first World Cup in 28 years bears a lot like their previous outing, when they lost to the Seleção and the Atlas Lions; the Haitian team occupy the place of Norway. Their aim will be to make it to the knockout phase for the first time after 8 previous group-stage exits. Haiti’s only previous World Cup, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats than for the ordeal that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a doping test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have limited away support due to travel restrictions from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third coach in a qualifying process that featured a streak of three consecutive defeats, but there is minimal risk in South American qualification these days. He has presided over a noticeable improvement. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the best of the north African sides, capable both of overwhelming opponents and playing on the counter-attack, securing qualification with a 100% record.

Group D

At the start of last year, the United States 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 ideas across and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will begin against the Paraguayan side, who are competing in their sixth World Cup. They have won one game at each of the prior five, a statistic that has resulted to both group phase eliminations and a last-eight place. Their familiar defensive mindset hasn't changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australian side and their squad is without obvious stars, but in spite of an iffy beginning 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 final two fixtures. The group’s fourth team will emerge from the victor of the European playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

After back-to-back group-stage eliminations, Germany are no longer the bogeymen of old. The shift to a more attacking philosophy has brought a fragility and the draw initially looked like posing a huge test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the revelations of qualifying, 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, conceded a paltry five.

Côte d’Ivoire live in a state of permanent declinism, 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, head coach Emerse Faé has proved transformative. After an improbable continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualification, netting 25 goals without reply.

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 could have appeared.

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side perhaps do not possess the galacticos of past Dutch generations, but they secured qualification unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, consistently appears a more reliable player with his national side than at domestic level. They open against the Japanese team, who will play in their eighth consecutive finals, and were by far the most impressive of the Asian sides in qualification, suffering one of their 16 games across the two phases, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side secured of a third straight World Cup berth by dominating a straightforward qualifying section, picking up 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are perhaps not as defensive as some past Tunisian sides; they had a remarkable 14 separate scorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the European 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 performed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Group G

Belgium and Egypt are emerging from the shadow of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, finding the net eight times but letting in 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 not managed to reach the finals during their peak period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully done themselves justice on the world stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defence that conceded just twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified unbeaten.

A reserved place for Oceania effectively meant a spot at the finals for the All Whites, who sailed through qualifying, winning five games out of five, scoring 29 goals, nine of them by Chris Wood, but they are the lowest-ranked side to have secured their place in North America next summer. Iran, who lost once in a difficult third phase qualification group, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially