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Group A

This first match at the historic Azteca Stadium will echo the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with Mexico. The Mexican team's knockout stage record at the worldwide tournament features just one victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. Their coach, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that team and will be targeting a third-ever quarter-final appearance as hosts. The South African side, coached by experienced Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial finals since they hosted, ending above Nigeria and Benin even after having a victory over Lesotho given against them for fielding an ineligible footballer.

It will represent South Korea's 11th consecutive finals qualification. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished in third place in the Best Player award when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. Hong is now their manager and led them unbeaten through a far from straightforward qualifying section. The fourth side in Group A will be the winner of a European playoff featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

Canada have made it for the global finals twice and, while Qatar 2022 brought their maiden finals goal, it did not deliver their first point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of arguably the most talented group of players in their history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which kind the draw appears hinges mostly on whether Italy progress through the European play-off (the other three teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After 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 last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified unbeaten from probably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have individuals hoping to feature at their fourth World Cups. The Qatari team, having ended up fourth in their third-round qualifying section, were handed a significant advantage by being selected as a host for the fourth phase and secured qualification with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is selected entirely from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland's return to the World Cup in 28 years bears a lot like their previous outing, when they lost to Brazil and the Atlas Lions; Haiti occupy the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to make it to the elimination stage for the first time after 8 prior group phase eliminations. Haiti’s sole prior World Cup, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats than for the fate that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a drugs test, was assaulted 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 qualifying campaign that featured a run of three consecutive losses, but there is little jeopardy in South American qualification 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, capable both of overwhelming rivals and playing on the counter, securing qualification with a perfect win record.

Group 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 understood and in November the USA beat Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will start 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-stage exits and a quarter-final place. Their trademark cautious approach has not changed: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australia team and their squad lacks clear stars, but despite an shaky start to the third phase 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 pool's final team will come from the winner of Europe’s playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

After back-to-back group phase exits, Die Mannschaft are no longer the feared force of old. The transition to a more progressive philosophy has brought a fragility and the draw initially looked like posing a massive challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the surprise package of qualification, finishing 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, protected by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a paltry five.

Ivory Coast exist in a state of constant declinism, where nothing is ever quite 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 clinical in qualification, netting 25 goals and conceding none.

The smallest country ever to reach the finals, the Curaçao team, were the final team picked, however, 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 star quality of previous Dutch generations, but they secured qualification unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, consistently appears a more effective performer with his country's side than at domestic level. They begin against the Japanese team, who will participate in their 8th consecutive finals, and were by far the most impressive of the Asian nations in qualifying, suffering 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 topping a straightforward qualification section, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as dour as some previous Tunisian teams; they had a staggering 14 separate scorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the UEFA playoff (against Ukraine in the semi-final, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will create a rematch 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 emerging from the shadow of golden 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 struggling to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most successful side in African football history, but having failed to reach the finals during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully fulfilled their potential on the world stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them attacking threat, but it was a defence that allowed only twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified undefeated.

A guaranteed place for Oceania essentially equated to a spot at the finals for the All Whites, who cruised 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. Team Melli, who were defeated once in a difficult third phase qualifying group, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially