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Group A

This opening match at the famous Azteca venue will replay the opener from 2010, when South Africa drew 1-1 with Mexico. Mexico's elimination phase record at the worldwide showpiece includes just one victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they previously were hosts in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be targeting a third-ever last-eight berth as tournament hosts. The South African side, coached by veteran Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first finals since they hosted, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a victory over Lesotho given against them for using an suspended player.

This will mark South Korea's 11th straight finals appearance. Legend Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and finished in third place in the Golden Ball award when South Korea made the last four in 2002. Hong is now their coach and led them without a loss through a anything but easy qualifying group. The fourth team 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

Canada have made it for the World Cup twice and, although Qatar 2022 brought their maiden finals goal, it did not deliver their first point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of arguably the most talented squad in their nation's history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which favorable the group appears hinges mostly on whether Italy progress through the UEFA play-off (the other three contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After 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 probably the easiest of the UEFA groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast individuals hoping to play at their fourth finals. The Qatari team, having ended up fourth in their third phase qualification section, were given a significant advantage by being selected as a tournament host for the final round and secured qualification with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is drawn entirely from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland's first finals in 28 years bears a lot like their previous outing, when they lost to Brazil and Morocco; the Haitian team occupy the place of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the knockout phase for the first time after 8 previous group phase exits. Haiti’s only prior finals, in 1974, was notable less for their three losses than for the ordeal that happened to 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 limited traveling support due to a travel ban involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third manager in a qualifying process that featured a streak of three successive losses, but there is little risk in South American qualifying these days. He has overseen a noticeable upturn in form. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the best of the north African sides, capable both of overwhelming opponents and playing on the counter, securing qualification with a perfect record.

Group D

Early last year, the USA seemed in a poor state, 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 apparently begun to get his message understood and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will start against the Paraguayan side, who are playing in their 6th finals. They have secured one game at each of the prior five, a statistic that has resulted to both group-stage eliminations and a last-eight place. Their trademark cautious mindset hasn't changed: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most free-flowing Australian team and their squad is without obvious superstars, but despite an shaky start to the third round of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side made it by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their last two matches. The pool's final team will emerge from the winner of the European Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

After successive group-stage eliminations, Die Mannschaft are no longer the feared force of old. The shift to a more progressive style has brought a fragility and the group initially looked like posing a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualification, ending up 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, protected by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, let in a mere five.

Côte d’Ivoire live in a state of constant declinism, where nothing is ever as successful as the glorious generation of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. Following an improbable continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualification, netting 25 goals and conceding reply.

The tiniest country ever to qualify, Curaçao, were the fourth team drawn, however, making the group look a lot less daunting than it could have been.

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side perhaps do not possess the galacticos 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 national side than at club level. They open against Japan, who will play in their eighth successive finals, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian nations in qualification, suffering one of their 16 games across the two groups, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side made sure of a third straight World Cup appearance by dominating a straightforward qualifying group, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as dour as certain past Tunisian sides; they had a remarkable 14 separate goalscorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the European playoff (against Ukraine in the semi, 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

The Belgian Red Devils and the Pharaohs are moving on from the shadow of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualification, scoring the net eight times but letting in five in two wins over Wales, scoring freely 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 qualify during their peak period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully fulfilled their potential on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them attacking threat, but it was a defence that allowed just twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified undefeated.

A reserved place for Oceania effectively meant a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who sailed 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. Team Melli, who were defeated once in a difficult third-round qualification group, are on a travel ban, possibly