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Pool A

The opening fixture at the historic Azteca venue will mirror the opener from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's elimination phase record at the worldwide tournament features just one win, achieved against Bulgaria when they previously were hosts in 1986. Their manager, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that squad and will be aiming for a third last-eight berth as hosts. South Africa, led by experienced Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, qualified for their first finals since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a win over Lesotho awarded against them for using an suspended player.

This will represent South Korea's 11th consecutive finals appearance. Legend Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and came in third place in the Golden Ball voting when South Korea reached the semi-final in 2002. Hong is now their coach and guided them without a loss through a anything but easy qualification group. The final side in Group A will be the victor of a European playoff featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

Canada have qualified for the global finals on two occasions and, although Qatar 2022 yielded their maiden goal, it did not bring their first point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of probably the most talented squad in their history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which kind the group appears hinges mostly on whether Italy make it through the UEFA playoff (the remaining three contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have got through the group stage in four of the past five World Cups and were last-eight participants at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified unbeaten from probably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have individuals hoping to feature at their fourth World Cups. Qatar, having finished in fourth in their third-round qualification section, were given a significant advantage by being chosen as a tournament host for the final phase and clinched qualification with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is drawn entirely from the domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland's first World Cup in 28 years bears a lot like their previous appearance, when they were defeated to Brazil and the Atlas Lions; Haiti take the spot of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the elimination stage for the very first time after eight previous group phase exits. Haiti’s sole prior 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 drugs test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have limited traveling support due to a travel ban from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third coach in a qualification process that included a run of three successive losses, but there is minimal risk in South American qualifying these days. He has presided over a clear upturn in form. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the strongest of the north African nations, capable both of dominating opponents and playing on the counter, qualifying with a perfect record.

Pool D

Early 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 ideas across and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will begin against Paraguay, who are playing in their sixth finals. 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 familiar cautious mindset hasn't altered: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australian team and their roster lacks obvious stars, but despite an shaky start to the third round of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their last two fixtures. The pool's final team will come from the winner of Europe’s Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

Following back-to-back group phase eliminations, Die Mannschaft are no longer the feared force of old. The shift to a more progressive style has introduced a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like posing a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the revelations of qualification, ending up second behind Argentina in South America. Although they scored 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 mere five.

Ivory Coast exist in a state of constant pessimism, where nothing is ever as successful as the glorious squad of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. After an improbable continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualification, netting 25 goals and conceding reply.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe do not possess the star quality of previous Dutch generations, but they secured qualification without losing and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, always looks a more effective player with his country's side than at domestic level. They begin against Japan, who will play in their 8th consecutive finals, and were by far the most impressive of the Asian sides in qualification, losing one of their 16 games over the two phases, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side secured of a third consecutive finals appearance by topping a manageable qualification section, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as dour as some past Tunisian teams; they had a remarkable 14 different goalscorers 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 create a repeat of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Group G

Belgium and Egypt are moving on from the shadow of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualifying, finding the net eight times but letting in 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 successful side in African football history, but having not managed 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 allowed just twice in 10 games that meant they qualified undefeated.

A reserved place for Oceania effectively meant a spot at the finals for New Zealand, 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 only once in a tricky third-round qualifying group, are on a travel ban, potentially