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Pool A

The initial fixture at the famous Azteca venue will mirror the first game from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's elimination phase history at the global tournament includes just a single victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they last were hosts in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that team and will be aiming for a third-ever quarter-final berth as tournament hosts. The South African side, led by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, qualified for their first finals since they hosted, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite having a win over Lesotho given against them for using an suspended player.

It will mark Korea Republic's 11th successive World Cup appearance. Legend Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and finished third in the Best Player voting when South Korea reached the semi-final in 2002. He is now their coach and led them unbeaten through a anything but easy qualification section. The fourth side in Group A will be the winner of a European playoff featuring 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 yielded their first finals goal, it did not deliver their first finals point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of arguably the most talented group of players in their history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which kind the group looks hinges mostly on whether the Italian national team make it through the European playoff (the remaining three teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have navigated the group stage in four of the past five tournaments and were quarter-finalists at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified without defeat from arguably the most straightforward of the UEFA groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players aiming to feature at their fourth finals. The Qatari team, having ended up in fourth in their third phase qualifying section, were handed a significant boost by being selected as a host for the final round and clinched qualification with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is drawn entirely from the Qatari league.

Pool C

Scotland return to the World Cup in 28 years bears a lot like their previous outing, when they lost to Brazil and the Atlas Lions; the Haitian team occupy the spot of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the elimination phase for the very first time after eight prior group phase eliminations. Haiti’s only prior finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats than for the ordeal that happened to 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 away support due to travel restrictions involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third coach in a qualification process that included a streak of three consecutive losses, but there is little risk in South American qualifying these days. He has presided over a noticeable upturn in form. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the strongest of the north African nations, able both of overwhelming opponents and playing on the counter, securing qualification with a 100% record.

Pool D

Early 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 last year, Mauricio Pochettino has apparently begun to get his ideas understood and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will start against Paraguay, who are playing in their 6th finals. They have won one game at each of the prior five, a statistic that has led to both group phase eliminations and a quarter-final place. Their trademark cautious mindset has not altered: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most free-flowing Australian side and their squad lacks obvious stars, but in spite of an shaky start to the third phase of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their last two matches. The group’s final team will come from the winner of Europe’s playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following successive group-stage exits, Germany are no longer the bogeymen of old. The shift to a more attacking style has brought a fragility and the draw initially looked like presenting a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the surprise package of qualifying, ending up second behind Argentina in South America. While 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, conceded a paltry five.

Ivory Coast live in a state of constant pessimism, where nothing is ever quite good as the glorious generation of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. After an implausible continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualifying, netting 25 goals and conceding none.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side perhaps lack the star quality of past Dutch generations, but they qualified without losing and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualification, always appears a more reliable player with his country's side than at domestic level. They open against the Japanese team, who will participate in their 8th consecutive World Cup, and were by some way the most dominant 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 consecutive finals berth by topping a straightforward qualifying group, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are maybe not as dour as some previous Tunisian sides; they had a remarkable 14 separate goalscorers in qualification. 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 executed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Group G

The Belgian Red Devils and the Pharaohs are moving on from the legacy of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, finding the net eight times but conceding 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 decorated side in African football history, but having not managed to reach the finals during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully done themselves justice on the world stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defence that allowed only twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified undefeated.

A guaranteed place for Oceania effectively 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-ranked side to have booked their place in North America next summer. Iran, who were defeated only once in a tricky third-round qualifying section, are on a travel ban, possibly