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Group A

The opening fixture at the iconic Azteca venue will echo the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana drew 1-1 with Mexico. The Mexican team's knockout stage record at the worldwide tournament features just a single win, achieved against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be targeting a third quarter-final berth as tournament hosts. South Africa, coached by veteran Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first World Cup since they hosted, ending above Nigeria and Benin despite having a victory over Lesotho awarded against them for using an ineligible player.

This will mark South Korea's 11th successive World Cup appearance. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished in third place in the Best Player voting when South Korea reached the semi-final in 2002. Hong is now their manager and guided them without a loss through a far from easy qualification section. 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

The Canadian team have made it for the global finals on two occasions and, although Qatar 2022 yielded their maiden finals goal, it did not bring their first point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of probably the best group of players in their nation's history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How favorable the draw appears hinges mostly on whether the Italian national team progress through the European play-off (the remaining 3 contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland 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 booked their ticket without defeat from probably the most straightforward of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players aiming to feature at their fourth World Cups. Qatar, having ended up fourth in their third phase qualification group, were handed a major advantage by being chosen as a tournament host for the fourth phase and clinched qualification with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is drawn entirely from the Qatari league.

Pool C

Scotland's return to the finals in 28 years bears a lot like their previous outing, when they were defeated to Brazil and Morocco; Haiti take the place of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the elimination stage for the first time after eight previous group phase exits. Haiti’s sole previous World Cup, in 1974, was notable less for their three defeats than for the ordeal that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a doping test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have restricted away support due to travel restrictions involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third coach in a qualification process that featured a run of three successive defeats, but there is little jeopardy in South American qualification these days. He has overseen a clear upturn in form. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the strongest of the north African sides, able both of overwhelming opponents and playing on the counter, qualifying with a perfect win record.

Group D

At the start of last year, the United States seemed in a dismal condition, suffering defeats 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 across and in November the USA beat Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will start against Paraguay, who are competing in their 6th finals. They have secured 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 hasn't altered: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most fluent Australia side and their roster is without clear stars, but in spite of an iffy start to the third round of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their final two fixtures. The pool's fourth team will come from the winner of the European Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

Following successive group phase eliminations, Germany are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more progressive philosophy has introduced a fragility and the draw initially looked like posing a huge test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the surprise package of qualification, finishing in second place behind Argentina in South America. Although they netted only 14 goals in 18 games, a defence including Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, let in a mere five.

Ivory Coast live in a state of constant declinism, where nothing is ever quite good as the golden squad 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 without none.

The smallest country ever to qualify, the Curaçao team, were the fourth team picked, however, making the group look a lot less daunting than it might have appeared.

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe lack the galacticos of past Dutch eras, but they secured qualification without losing and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, always appears a more effective performer with his national side than at club level. They open against the Japanese team, who will participate in their eighth successive finals, and were by some way the most dominant of the Asian sides in qualification, losing one of their 16 games over the two phases, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia secured of a third consecutive World Cup berth by dominating a manageable qualification section, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as dour as some previous Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 separate goalscorers 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 rematch of the group stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the iconic 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 qualifying, scoring the net eight times but letting in five in two wins over Wales, scoring easily at times, but also laboring 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 peak period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully done themselves justice on the world stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them attacking threat, but it was a defensive unit that conceded just twice in 10 games that meant they qualified undefeated.

A reserved place for Oceania essentially equated to a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who cruised through qualification, winning five games out of five, netting 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 qualification group, are on a travel ban, possibly