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Group A

The initial game at the famous Azteca venue will mirror the first game from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with El Tri. The Mexican team's knockout stage history at the worldwide showpiece features just one win, secured against Bulgaria when they previously hosted in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that squad and will be aiming for a third quarter-final berth as hosts. South Africa, led by veteran Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first finals since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite having a victory over Lesotho given against them for fielding an suspended footballer.

It will mark Korea Republic's 11th successive World Cup appearance. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came third in the Best Player award when South Korea made the last four in 2002. Hong is now their manager and led them without a loss through a anything but straightforward qualifying section. The fourth team in Group A will be the victor of a European playoff involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

Canada have qualified for the global finals twice and, although Qatar 2022 brought their first goal, it did not bring their first point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of arguably the best squad in their nation's history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How favorable the group appears hinges largely on whether Italy make it through the UEFA playoff (the remaining three teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have navigated the initial phase in four of the last five World Cups and were quarter-finalists at the last 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 individuals hoping to play at their fourth World Cups. Qatar, having ended up fourth in their third phase qualifying section, were handed a major advantage by being selected as a 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 domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland first World Cup in 28 years looks a lot like their last appearance, when they lost to the Seleção and the Atlas Lions; Haiti take the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the elimination phase for the very first time after 8 previous group-stage exits. Haiti’s only prior 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 drugs test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have limited away support due to a travel ban involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third manager in a qualification process that included a streak of three successive defeats, but there is minimal risk in South American qualification these days. He has presided over a clear improvement. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the best of the north African sides, able both of dominating rivals and playing on the counter-attack, qualifying with a perfect record.

Group D

Early last year, the USA seemed in a dismal condition, 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 seemingly begun to get his message across and in November the USA beat Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will start against Paraguay, who are playing in their sixth finals. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a record that has resulted to both group phase exits and a quarter-final appearance. Their trademark cautious approach hasn't 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 clear stars, but in spite of an iffy start to the third round 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 fixtures. The pool's fourth team will emerge from the victor of the European playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

Following successive group-stage exits, Germany are no longer the feared force of old. The shift to a more attacking style has brought 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 second behind Argentina in South America. Although they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a defence featuring Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a mere five.

Côte d’Ivoire exist in a state of permanent pessimism, where nothing is ever as successful as the golden squad of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. Following an improbable continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualification, scoring 25 goals and conceding none.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side perhaps lack the star quality of previous Dutch generations, but they secured qualification without losing and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, always looks a more effective performer with his national side than at club level. They begin against Japan, who will play in their 8th consecutive 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 groups, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia secured of a third straight finals berth by topping a manageable qualifying section, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are perhaps not as dour as certain past Tunisian sides; they had a remarkable 14 different goalscorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the European playoff (against Ukraine in the semi-final, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will set up a rematch of the group stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Group G

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

Egypt are the most decorated side in African history, but having not managed to reach the finals during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite fulfilled their potential on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defensive unit that conceded only twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified unbeaten.

A guaranteed 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. Team Melli, who lost only once in a tricky third-round qualifying group, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly