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Pool A

This opening match at the famous Azteca Stadium will echo the opener from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's knockout phase history at the worldwide showpiece includes just one victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that team and will be targeting a third-ever last-eight berth as tournament hosts. The South African side, coached by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial finals since hosting, ending above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a win over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an ineligible footballer.

It will mark South Korea's eleventh successive World Cup qualification. Legend Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and came in third place in the Best Player voting when South Korea reached the semi-final in 2002. Hong is now their manager and led them without a loss through a far from straightforward qualifying group. 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.

Group B

Canada have made it for the World Cup on two occasions and, although Qatar 2022 yielded their first finals goal, it did not bring their first-ever finals point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of arguably the best squad in their history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How favorable the group appears hinges mostly on whether the Italian national team progress 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 got through the initial phase in four of the past five tournaments and were last-eight participants at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified unbeaten from arguably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players hoping to feature at their fourth World Cups. The Qatari team, having ended up fourth in their third-round qualification group, were given a major boost by being chosen as a tournament host for the fourth phase and clinched progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is drawn exclusively from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland's return to the finals in 28 years bears a lot like their last appearance, when they were defeated to Brazil and the Atlas Lions; Haiti occupy the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the elimination stage for the very first time after 8 prior group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s only previous finals, in 1974, was notable less for their three defeats than for the ordeal that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a doping test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have restricted traveling support due to travel restrictions involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third coach in a qualification campaign that featured a streak of three successive defeats, but there is little risk in South American qualifying these days. He has overseen a noticeable improvement. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the best of the north African sides, capable both of dominating rivals and playing on the counter, securing qualification with a 100% win record.

Group D

At the start of last year, the United States 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 last year, Mauricio Pochettino has apparently begun to get his ideas across and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will start against the Paraguayan side, who are competing in their 6th finals. They have won one game at each of the prior five, a record that has led to both group-stage eliminations and a last-eight place. Their familiar defensive approach hasn't altered: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most fluent Australia side and their roster lacks obvious stars, but despite an shaky beginning to the third phase of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side made it by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their final two fixtures. The pool's final team will emerge from the victor of Europe’s playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following successive group phase exits, Germany are no longer the feared force of old. The transition to a more progressive style has brought a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like presenting a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualifying, ending up second behind Argentina in South America. While they netted only 14 goals in 18 games, a defence featuring Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, let in a mere five.

Ivory Coast live in a state of constant declinism, where nothing is ever as good as the glorious generation of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved transformative. Following an implausible continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualifying, scoring 25 goals and conceding none.

The smallest country ever to qualify, Curaçao, were the final team drawn, though, making the group look a lot far less daunting than it might have been.

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side maybe do not possess the star quality of past Dutch generations, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, consistently looks a more reliable performer with his national side than at club level. They open against Japan, who will play in their 8th successive finals, and were by some way the most dominant of the Asian sides in qualification, suffering one of their 16 games over the two groups, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side made sure of a third straight World Cup appearance by topping a straightforward qualifying group, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as defensive as certain previous Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 different scorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the European playoff (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

Belgium and Egypt are moving on from the legacy of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualification, finding the net eight times but conceding five in two wins over Wales, finding goals easily 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 quite 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 meant they qualified undefeated.

A guaranteed place for Oceania essentially meant a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who cruised through qualification, 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. Iran, who were defeated once in a difficult third phase qualification group, are on a travel ban, potentially