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Group A

This opening game at the famous Azteca venue will mirror the opener from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with El Tri. The Mexican team's knockout phase record at the worldwide tournament includes just one victory, secured against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. Their coach, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that squad and will be targeting a third-ever last-eight appearance as hosts. The South African side, led by veteran Belgian manager Hugo Broos, qualified for their first finals since hosting, ending above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a victory over Lesotho given against them for fielding an ineligible footballer.

It will mark South Korea's eleventh consecutive finals appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came third in the Golden Ball award when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. Hong is now their coach and led them unbeaten through a far from easy qualifying section. The final side in Group A will be the victor of a European playoff featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

The Canadian team have qualified for the global finals twice and, while Qatar 2022 yielded their maiden finals goal, it did not bring their first-ever point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of probably the best group of players in their history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which favorable the draw appears hinges mostly on whether the Italian national team progress through the UEFA playoff (the other 3 teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have got through the group stage in four of the past five World Cups and were quarter-finalists at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified without defeat from probably the easiest of the UEFA groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast individuals hoping to play at their fourth finals. Qatar, having finished fourth in their third-round qualification group, were handed a significant advantage by being chosen as a tournament host for the final phase and secured progress with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is drawn exclusively from the Qatari league.

Group C

Scotland's return to the finals in 28 years bears a lot like their previous outing, when they lost to Brazil and Morocco; Haiti occupy the place of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the elimination stage for the first time after eight previous group-stage exits. Haiti’s sole prior finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats than for the fate that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a doping 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 qualification process that included a run of three consecutive losses, but there is minimal risk in South American qualifying these days. He has presided over a noticeable improvement. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the best of the north African nations, able both of dominating opponents and playing on the counter-attack, securing qualification with a 100% win record.

Group 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 friendlies. 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 start against Paraguay, who are competing in their 6th World Cup. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a record that has led to both group phase exits and a quarter-final appearance. Their familiar defensive approach hasn't changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most free-flowing Australian team and their squad lacks obvious superstars, but despite an shaky beginning to the third phase of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side made it by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their final two fixtures. The pool's final team will come from the victor of Europe’s playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

Following successive group-stage eliminations, Germany are no longer the bogeymen of old. The shift to a more attacking style has introduced a fragility and the group initially looked like posing a huge test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualifying, ending up in second place behind Argentina in South America. Although they netted only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline including Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a mere five.

Ivory Coast exist 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 ruthless in qualification, scoring 25 goals and conceding none.

The smallest country ever to reach the finals, Curaçao, were the final team drawn, however, making the group look a lot far less daunting than it could have been.

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side maybe do not possess the star quality of past Dutch eras, but they secured qualification unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, always looks a more reliable performer with his country's side than at club level. They open against the Japanese team, who will participate in their 8th successive World Cup, and were by far the most dominant of the Asian nations in qualification, losing one of their 16 games across the two groups, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side made sure of a third consecutive World Cup berth by topping a straightforward qualifying group, picking up 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are maybe not as dour as certain previous Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 separate goalscorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the European playoff (against Ukraine in the semi, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will create a rematch of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

The Belgian Red Devils and the Pharaohs are moving on from the shadow of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic 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 failed to qualify during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully done themselves justice on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defensive unit that allowed just twice in 10 games that meant they qualified undefeated.

A reserved place for Oceania effectively meant a spot at the finals for the All Whites, who cruised 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 secured their place in North America next summer. Team Melli, who lost only once in a difficult third-round qualifying group, are on a travel ban, potentially