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Group A

This opening game at the iconic Azteca venue will echo the first game from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with Mexico. Mexico's elimination phase record at the worldwide tournament features just one win, secured against Bulgaria when they previously were hosts in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be aiming for a third-ever quarter-final berth as hosts. South Africa, coached by veteran Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, qualified for their initial World Cup since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a victory over Lesotho awarded against them for using an suspended footballer.

It will represent Korea Republic's 11th straight World Cup appearance. Legend Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and came third in the Best Player award when South Korea made the semi-final in 2002. He is now their coach and guided them unbeaten through a anything but straightforward qualifying section. The fourth team in Group A will be the winner of a UEFA playoff featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

Canada have made it for the World Cup on two occasions and, although Qatar 2022 yielded their maiden goal, it did not deliver their first finals point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of arguably the most talented squad in their history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How favorable the draw appears depends largely on whether Italy progress through the European playoff (the remaining 3 contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have navigated the group stage 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 easiest of the UEFA groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players hoping to feature at their fourth finals. The Qatari team, having finished in fourth in their third-round qualification section, were given a significant boost by being selected as a tournament host for the final round and clinched progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is selected entirely 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 Morocco; the Haitian team take the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the knockout phase for the very first time after 8 previous group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s only prior World Cup, in 1974, was notable less for their three losses than for the fate that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a doping test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have restricted away support due to a travel ban from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third manager in a qualification process that featured a streak of three consecutive losses, but there is little risk in South American qualification these days. He has overseen a noticeable improvement. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the best of the north African sides, able both of dominating rivals and playing on the counter-attack, qualifying with a perfect win record.

Group D

At the start of last year, the USA seemed in a poor 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 ideas understood and in November the USA beat Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will begin against Paraguay, who are competing in their 6th World Cup. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has led to both group phase eliminations and a quarter-final appearance. Their familiar cautious approach hasn't changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most free-flowing Australian side and their squad lacks obvious superstars, 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 immense pressure in their final two fixtures. The pool's final team will come from the victor of Europe’s playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

After back-to-back group-stage eliminations, Germany are no longer the feared force of old. The shift to a more attacking philosophy has introduced a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like presenting a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualifying, finishing second behind Argentina in South America. While they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a defence featuring Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, protected by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, let in a paltry five.

Ivory Coast exist in a state of constant pessimism, where nothing is ever as good as the glorious generation of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. Following an implausible continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualifying, scoring 25 goals without none.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side perhaps do not possess the star quality of past Dutch eras, but they secured qualification without losing and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualification, consistently appears a more reliable player with his national side than at club level. They begin against Japan, who will participate in their eighth successive World Cup, and were by some way the most dominant of the Asian nations in qualification, losing one of their 16 games across the two groups, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia secured of a third consecutive finals appearance by dominating a straightforward qualifying section, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as defensive as certain previous Tunisian teams; they had a staggering 14 different scorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the European playoff (against Ukraine in the semi, 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 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 erratic in qualifying, finding 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 football history, but having failed to reach the finals during their peak 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 defence that allowed only twice in 10 games that meant they qualified unbeaten.

A guaranteed place for Oceania essentially meant a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who sailed 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 secured their place in North America next summer. Team Melli, who lost once in a difficult third phase qualifying section, are on a travel ban, potentially