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Pool A

This opening match at the famous Azteca Stadium will mirror the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana drew 1-1 with Mexico. The Mexican team's elimination phase record at the worldwide tournament features just one win, achieved against Bulgaria when they previously were hosts in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be aiming for a third quarter-final appearance as tournament hosts. The South African side, coached by veteran Belgian manager Hugo Broos, qualified for their first World Cup since they hosted, ending above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a win over Lesotho awarded against them for using an ineligible player.

It will represent Korea Republic's 11th straight World Cup qualification. Legend Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and came in third place in the Golden Ball voting when South Korea made the last four in 2002. Hong is now their manager and guided them unbeaten through a far from easy qualification section. The final side in Group A will be the victor of a UEFA qualifying play-off involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

Canada have qualified for the World Cup twice and, while Qatar 2022 yielded their maiden goal, it did not deliver their first-ever point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of probably the most talented group of players in their history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How kind the group looks hinges mostly on whether the Italian national team make it through the European playoff (the other three teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have navigated the initial phase 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 arguably the most straightforward of the UEFA groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast individuals aiming to feature at their fourth finals. Qatar, having ended up in fourth in their third-round qualifying section, were handed a major advantage by being chosen as a tournament host for the final phase and secured progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is selected exclusively from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland's return to the finals in 28 years looks a lot like their previous outing, when they lost to Brazil and the Atlas Lions; the Haitian team take the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the knockout stage for the very first time after 8 prior group phase exits. Haiti’s sole prior finals, in 1974, was notable less for their three losses than for the fate that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a drugs test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have limited away support due to a travel ban involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third coach in a qualifying process that included a run of three successive defeats, but there is minimal risk in South American qualification these days. He has overseen a noticeable upturn in form. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the best of the north African sides, capable both of dominating opponents and playing on the counter, qualifying with a 100% win record.

Group D

Early 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 friendly matches. But over the last year, Mauricio Pochettino has apparently begun to get his ideas 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 competing in their sixth finals. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a record that has resulted to both group-stage eliminations and a quarter-final place. Their familiar 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 team and their roster is without clear superstars, but despite an iffy beginning to the third phase of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side made it by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their last two fixtures. The pool's fourth team will come from the victor of Europe’s playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following back-to-back group phase exits, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more progressive style has introduced a fragility and the draw initially looked like presenting a massive challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the revelations of qualification, ending up in second place 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, conceded a mere five.

Côte d’Ivoire exist in a state of constant pessimism, where nothing is ever quite successful as the glorious squad of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. Following an improbable continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, netting 25 goals without none.

The smallest country ever to qualify, Curaçao, were the fourth team picked, though, making the group look a lot less daunting than it might have appeared.

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe do not possess the star quality of previous Dutch eras, but they secured qualification without losing and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, consistently appears a more reliable player with his national side than at club level. They open against Japan, who will play in their eighth consecutive World Cup, and were by far 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 appearance by dominating a straightforward qualification group, picking up 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as dour as certain past Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 separate scorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the European play-off (against Ukraine in the semi, 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 executed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Group G

Belgium and Egypt are moving on from the shadow of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualifying, finding the net eight times but conceding 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 reach the finals during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite done themselves justice on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defensive unit that conceded 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 booked their place in North America next summer. Iran, who were defeated only once in a tricky third phase qualification section, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially