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Group A

This initial game at the famous Azteca Stadium will echo the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's knockout phase record at the global showpiece includes just a single victory, secured against Bulgaria when they previously hosted in 1986. Their manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be targeting a third-ever last-eight appearance as tournament hosts. The South African side, coached by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first finals since they hosted, ending above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a victory over Lesotho given against them for using an suspended footballer.

It will represent South Korea's eleventh consecutive World Cup appearance. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came third in the Best Player award when South Korea made the last four in 2002. Hong is now their coach and led them unbeaten through a far from straightforward qualifying group. The final side in Group A will be the winner of a European 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 first goal, it did not bring their first point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of arguably the most talented squad in their history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which favorable the group looks depends mostly on whether Italy make it through the UEFA play-off (the remaining 3 teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have navigated the initial phase in four of the last five World Cups and were quarter-finalists at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified unbeaten from arguably the most straightforward of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players hoping to play at their fourth World Cups. The Qatari team, having ended up in fourth in their third-round qualification group, were handed a major advantage by being selected as a host for the final round and secured progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is drawn exclusively from the domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland first finals in 28 years looks a lot like their last outing, when they lost to the Seleção and the Atlas Lions; the Haitian team occupy the place of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the knockout phase for the very first time after 8 prior group phase exits. Haiti’s only 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 doping test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have limited away support due to travel restrictions from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third manager in a qualifying process that featured a streak of three consecutive losses, but there is little risk in South American qualifying these days. He has overseen a noticeable upturn in form. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the strongest of the north African sides, capable both of dominating rivals and playing on the counter-attack, securing qualification with a perfect win record.

Group D

At the start of last year, the USA seemed in a dismal condition, suffering defeats to Panama and Canada in the Concacaf Nations League and to Turkey and Switzerland in friendly matches. But over the past year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his message across and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will begin against the Paraguayan side, who are playing in their sixth World Cup. They have secured one game at each of the prior five, a statistic that has led to both group phase exits and a last-eight place. Their trademark cautious mindset has not altered: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australia side and their roster is without 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 last two fixtures. The pool's final team will emerge from the winner of Europe’s Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following successive group phase exits, Germany are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more progressive style has brought a fragility and the draw initially looked like posing a massive challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations 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, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, let in a mere five.

Côte d’Ivoire live in a state of constant declinism, where nothing is ever quite 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 transformative. Following an improbable continental triumph 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 final team picked, however, making the group look a lot far less daunting than it could have appeared.

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side maybe lack the star quality of past Dutch eras, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualification, consistently appears a more reliable performer with his country's side than at domestic level. They open against the Japanese team, who will participate in their 8th successive finals, and were by far the most dominant of the Asian sides in qualification, suffering one of their 16 games across the two groups, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side secured of a third consecutive World Cup appearance by topping a manageable qualification section, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as defensive as some past Tunisian sides; they had a remarkable 14 separate 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 rematch 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 legacy of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualification, finding the net eight times but conceding 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 not managed to qualify during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully fulfilled their potential 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 unbeaten.

A reserved place for Oceania essentially meant a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who cruised 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 booked their place in North America next summer. Team Melli, who were defeated once in a tricky third phase qualification group, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly