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Pool A

The first match at the famous Azteca Stadium will mirror the opener from 2010, when South Africa drew 1-1 with Mexico. The Mexican team's knockout phase history at the worldwide tournament includes just one win, secured against Bulgaria when they previously hosted in 1986. Their coach, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that squad and will be aiming for a third-ever quarter-final berth as hosts. The South African side, led by experienced Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first finals since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a win over Lesotho given against them for fielding an suspended footballer.

This will represent Korea Republic's 11th straight World Cup qualification. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came in third place in the Golden Ball voting when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. Hong is now their coach and guided them unbeaten through a anything but straightforward qualifying group. The fourth team 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 on two occasions and, although Qatar 2022 brought their maiden goal, it did not deliver their first finals point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of probably the best group of players 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 depends 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).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have got through the initial phase in four of the past five World Cups and were last-eight participants at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket unbeaten from probably the most straightforward of the UEFA groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players hoping to play at their fourth World Cups. Qatar, having ended up fourth in their third phase qualification section, were handed a significant advantage by being selected as a host for the fourth round and clinched progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected entirely from the domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland first finals in 28 years looks a lot like their last appearance, when they were defeated to Brazil and the Atlas Lions; the Haitian team take the place of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the elimination phase for the very first time after eight previous group-stage exits. Haiti’s only previous finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats than for the fate that befell 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 coach in a qualifying process that featured a streak of three successive defeats, but there is minimal jeopardy 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 nations, capable both of overwhelming rivals and playing on the counter, securing qualification with a perfect record.

Pool D

At the start of last year, the United States seemed in a poor state, losing 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 message across and in November the USA beat Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will start against Paraguay, who are playing in their 6th finals. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has resulted to both group-stage eliminations and a last-eight appearance. Their familiar defensive mindset hasn't altered: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australia team and their squad is without clear stars, but in spite of an iffy beginning to the third round of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side made it by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their last two matches. The group’s fourth team will emerge from the victor of the European playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following successive group phase eliminations, Germany are no longer the bogeymen of old. The shift to a more progressive style has introduced a fragility and the group initially looked like posing a massive challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the revelations of qualification, ending up second behind Argentina in South America. Although they netted only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline featuring Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a mere five.

Ivory Coast exist in a state of constant pessimism, where nothing is ever as good as the glorious squad of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control 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 qualifying, scoring 25 goals and conceding reply.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe do not possess the galacticos of past Dutch generations, but they secured qualification unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualification, consistently looks a more effective player with his national side than at domestic level. They begin against the Japanese team, who will play in their 8th consecutive finals, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian nations in qualifying, losing one of their 16 games across the two phases, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side made sure of a third straight World Cup appearance by dominating a manageable qualification section, picking up 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are maybe not as defensive as some past Tunisian teams; they had a remarkable 14 different scorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the European 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 stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first executed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Group G

The Belgian Red Devils and Egypt are moving on from the legacy of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualification, scoring the net eight times but conceding 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 qualify during their golden 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 conceded only twice in 10 games that meant 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 FIFA-ranked side to have secured their place in North America next summer. Iran, who lost only once in a difficult third phase qualification section, are on a travel ban, possibly