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Pool A

This opening fixture at the historic Azteca Stadium will echo the opener from 2010, when Bafana Bafana drew 1-1 with El Tri. The Mexican team's knockout stage history at the global showpiece includes just a single win, secured against Bulgaria when they previously hosted in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be targeting a third last-eight appearance as tournament hosts. The South African side, coached by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial World Cup since hosting, ending above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a victory over Lesotho given against them for using an ineligible player.

This will mark Korea Republic's eleventh straight finals qualification. Legend Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and came third in the Golden Ball award when South Korea made the last four in 2002. Hong is now their manager and guided them unbeaten through a anything but easy qualifying section. The fourth side in Group A will be the victor of a European qualifying play-off featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

The Canadian team have made it for the global finals on two occasions and, although Qatar 2022 brought their maiden goal, it did not deliver their first point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of arguably the best group of players in their history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How kind the draw appears hinges largely on whether the Italian national team make it 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 navigated the initial phase in four of the last 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 groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players aiming to feature at their fourth World Cups. The Qatari team, having finished fourth in their third-round qualification group, were given a major boost by being selected as a host for the final round and secured progress with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is drawn entirely from the Qatari league.

Group C

Scotland return to the finals in 28 years bears a lot like their previous outing, when they lost to the Seleção and the Atlas Lions; the Haitian team take the spot of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the elimination phase for the first time after eight prior group phase eliminations. Haiti’s only prior World Cup, in 1974, was remembered less for their three losses than for the fate that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a drugs test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have restricted away support due to travel restrictions from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third coach in a qualifying campaign that included a streak of three consecutive losses, but there is little jeopardy in South American qualifying these days. He has presided over a noticeable improvement. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the strongest of the north African sides, capable both of dominating opponents and playing on the counter-attack, securing qualification with a 100% record.

Pool D

At the start of 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 seemingly begun to get his ideas across and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will begin against Paraguay, who are competing in their 6th finals. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has resulted to both group phase exits and a quarter-final place. Their familiar defensive mindset hasn't changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most free-flowing Australian side and their roster is without obvious superstars, but despite an shaky beginning to the third round of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side made it by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their final two fixtures. The group’s fourth team will come from the winner of the European playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following successive group phase eliminations, Germany are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more attacking philosophy has brought a fragility and the group initially looked like presenting a massive test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualifying, ending up second behind Argentina in South America. While 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, let in a paltry five.

Côte d’Ivoire exist in a state of permanent declinism, where nothing is ever as good as the glorious squad of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Emerse Faé has proved transformative. After an implausible continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualifying, scoring 25 goals without none.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side perhaps lack the galacticos of previous Dutch eras, but they qualified without losing and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualification, consistently appears a more reliable performer with his country's side than at club level. They open against Japan, who will participate in their 8th consecutive finals, and were by far the most impressive of the Asian nations in qualifying, losing one of their 16 games across the two phases, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side secured of a third straight World Cup berth by topping a straightforward qualification group, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are maybe not as dour as certain previous Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 different scorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the European playoff (against Ukraine in the semi-final, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will set up a repeat of the group stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

The Belgian Red Devils and the Pharaohs are emerging from the shadow 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, scoring freely at times, but also struggling to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most decorated side in African history, but having not managed to reach the finals during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite fulfilled their potential on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them attacking threat, but it was a defence that conceded only twice in 10 games that meant they qualified undefeated.

A reserved place for Oceania essentially meant a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who sailed through qualifying, 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 secured their place in North America next summer. Team Melli, who were defeated once in a difficult third-round qualifying group, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly