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Group A

This initial match at the historic Azteca Stadium will replay the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana drew 1-1 with Mexico. Mexico's knockout stage record at the global showpiece includes just a single 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 quarter-final berth as hosts. The South African side, coached by veteran Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, qualified for their initial finals since they hosted, finishing above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a victory over Lesotho awarded against them for using an suspended player.

It will mark Korea Republic's eleventh straight World Cup qualification. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished in third place in the Best Player voting when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. He is now their manager and led them unbeaten through a far from easy qualification 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.

Group B

Canada have qualified for the World Cup on two occasions and, while Qatar 2022 brought their maiden goal, it did not deliver their first finals point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of probably the most talented 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 looks depends mostly on whether the Italian national team progress through the European playoff (the remaining three 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 tournaments and were last-eight participants at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified without defeat from arguably the easiest of the UEFA groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have individuals hoping to feature at their fourth finals. The Qatari team, having ended up fourth in their third phase qualification group, were handed a significant advantage by being chosen as a tournament host for the final phase and secured qualification with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is drawn exclusively from the Qatari league.

Pool C

Scotland's first World Cup in 28 years looks a lot like their last appearance, when they lost to the Seleção and Morocco; the Haitian team take the spot of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the elimination stage for the first time after 8 previous group phase exits. Haiti’s only prior finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats than for the ordeal that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a doping test, was beaten 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 manager in a qualification campaign that featured a streak of three consecutive defeats, but there is little jeopardy in South American qualifying these days. He has overseen a clear upturn in form. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the strongest of the north African nations, able both of overwhelming opponents and playing on the counter-attack, qualifying with a 100% record.

Group D

Early last year, the United States seemed in a dismal condition, losing 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 seemingly begun to get his message understood and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will start against Paraguay, who are competing in their sixth finals. They have secured one game at each of the prior five, a record that has led to both group phase exits and a last-eight appearance. Their trademark defensive mindset hasn't changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australian team and their squad lacks clear stars, but despite an iffy start to the third round of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side made it by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their last two fixtures. The group’s final team will emerge from the victor of Europe’s playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

After back-to-back group phase eliminations, Die Mannschaft are no longer the feared force of old. The shift to a more attacking philosophy has introduced a vulnerability and the group initially looked like posing a massive challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualification, finishing second behind Argentina in South America. While they netted only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline including 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 pessimism, where nothing is ever as successful as the golden squad of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. After an improbable continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualifying, netting 25 goals and conceding none.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side perhaps do not possess the galacticos of previous Dutch eras, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, consistently looks a more effective player with his country's side than at club level. They open 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, suffering one of their 16 games across the two groups, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia secured of a third straight finals berth by dominating a straightforward qualifying group, picking up 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are maybe not as dour as some past Tunisian sides; 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 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 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, finding goals easily 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 reach the finals during their peak period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite done themselves justice 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 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-ranked side to have booked their place in North America next summer. Iran, who lost once in a tricky third phase qualification group, are on a travel ban, possibly