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Pool A

The first fixture at the historic Azteca Stadium will replay the first game from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's elimination stage history at the global showpiece features just a single win, secured against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that team and will be aiming for a third-ever last-eight appearance as tournament hosts. The South African side, coached by veteran Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first finals since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a victory over Lesotho given against them for fielding an suspended player.

This will represent South Korea's 11th consecutive finals qualification. Icon Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and finished in third place in the Best Player voting when South Korea made the semi-final in 2002. Hong is now their manager and guided them without a loss through a far from straightforward qualification group. The fourth team in Group A will be the victor of a European playoff featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

Canada have qualified for the World Cup twice and, while Qatar 2022 yielded their maiden 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 key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which favorable the group looks hinges largely on whether the Italian national team progress through the European playoff (the other 3 teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have got through the initial phase in four of the last five World Cups and were last-eight participants at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified without defeat from probably the most straightforward of the UEFA groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players aiming to play at their fourth finals. The Qatari team, having ended up fourth in their third-round qualification section, were given a major boost by being chosen as a host for the final phase and secured progress with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is drawn exclusively from the Qatari league.

Group C

Scotland first finals in 28 years bears a lot like their previous appearance, when they were defeated to the Seleção and Morocco; Haiti occupy the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to make it to the knockout stage for the very first time after eight previous group-stage eliminations. 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 failing a drugs test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have restricted traveling support due to a travel ban involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third manager in a qualification process that featured a run of three successive defeats, but there is minimal jeopardy in South American qualifying these days. He has presided over a noticeable improvement. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the strongest of the north African sides, able both of dominating rivals and playing on the counter, qualifying with a 100% record.

Pool D

At the start of last year, the USA 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 exhibition games. They will start against the Paraguayan side, who are playing in their 6th World Cup. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has resulted to both group phase eliminations and a last-eight appearance. Their trademark cautious approach has not altered: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

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

Group E

After successive group phase exits, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The shift to a more progressive style has brought a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like posing a massive test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualifying, ending up in second place behind Argentina in South America. Although they netted 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, let in a paltry five.

Côte d’Ivoire live in a state of permanent pessimism, where nothing is ever as successful as the glorious generation of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved transformative. Following an implausible continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualification, scoring 25 goals and conceding reply.

The tiniest country ever to reach the finals, the Curaçao team, were the final team picked, though, making the group look a lot less daunting than it could have been.

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side maybe do not possess the galacticos of previous Dutch eras, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualification, always looks a more effective player with his national side than at domestic level. They open against the Japanese team, who will participate in their 8th successive World Cup, and were by far the most dominant of the Asian sides in qualification, suffering one of their 16 games across the two phases, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia made sure of a third straight World Cup appearance by dominating a straightforward qualifying group, picking up 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as defensive as some past Tunisian teams; they had a remarkable 14 different scorers in qualification. 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 create a repeat of the group stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Group G

The Belgian Red Devils and Egypt are moving on from the legacy of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualification, scoring the net eight times but conceding five in two wins over Wales, finding goals freely at times, but also struggling to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most decorated side in African history, but having failed to qualify during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite done themselves justice on the world 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 undefeated.

A reserved place for Oceania effectively equated to a spot at the finals for New Zealand, 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 booked their place in North America next summer. Iran, who lost only once in a difficult third phase qualifying group, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially