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Group A

The first game at the historic Azteca venue will replay the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with Mexico. Mexico's knockout phase history at the worldwide showpiece includes just a single victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that squad and will be targeting a third last-eight berth as tournament hosts. South Africa, led by experienced Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, qualified for their initial finals since they hosted, ending above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a victory over Lesotho given against them for using an ineligible player.

It will represent Korea Republic's 11th successive finals appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished third in the Golden Ball voting when South Korea made the semi-final in 2002. He is now their coach and led them without a loss through a anything but easy qualifying section. The fourth side in Group A will be the winner of a European playoff involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

The Canadian team have qualified for the World Cup twice and, while Qatar 2022 brought their maiden goal, it did not deliver their first finals point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of probably the most talented squad in their history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How kind the draw appears depends mostly on whether Italy make it through the UEFA playoff (the other 3 contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have navigated the group stage in four of the past five tournaments and were last-eight participants at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket unbeaten from probably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast individuals aiming to feature at their fourth World Cups. Qatar, having ended up fourth in their third phase qualification section, were handed a significant boost by being selected as a tournament host for the fourth round and secured qualification with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is selected exclusively from the Qatari league.

Pool C

Scotland return to the finals in 28 years looks a lot like their last appearance, when they lost to Brazil and Morocco; the Haitian team occupy the spot of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the elimination stage for the first time after 8 previous group phase exits. Haiti’s only previous 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 deported. They will have limited away support due to travel restrictions from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third manager in a qualification process that featured a streak of three consecutive defeats, but there is minimal jeopardy in South American qualification these days. He has presided over a noticeable improvement. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the strongest of the north African nations, capable both of overwhelming opponents and playing on the counter, qualifying with a 100% record.

Pool D

Early last year, the United States seemed in a dismal state, losing 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 message understood and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will begin against Paraguay, who are competing in their sixth World Cup. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has resulted to both group-stage eliminations and a quarter-final appearance. Their trademark defensive mindset has not altered: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most free-flowing Australia side and their squad is without obvious stars, but in spite of an shaky beginning to the third round of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side made it by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their last two matches. The pool's final team will come from the victor of the European playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following successive group-stage eliminations, Die Mannschaft are no longer the feared force of old. The shift to a more attacking philosophy has brought a fragility and the group initially looked like presenting a massive test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the surprise package of qualifying, finishing in second place behind Argentina in South America. Although they scored 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, conceded a paltry five.

Ivory Coast live in a state of permanent pessimism, where nothing is ever quite good as the golden squad of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge 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 fourth team picked, however, making the group look a lot far less daunting than it might have appeared.

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side maybe lack the star quality of past Dutch eras, but they qualified without losing and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualification, consistently appears a more effective player with his national side than at club level. They open against Japan, who will participate in their 8th successive World Cup, and were by some way the most dominant of the Asian sides in qualification, losing one of their 16 games across the two groups, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia made sure of a third consecutive finals berth by dominating a straightforward qualifying section, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as dour as certain previous Tunisian teams; they had a staggering 14 different scorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the UEFA play-off (against Ukraine in the semi-final, 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.

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, finding the net eight times but conceding five in two wins over Wales, finding goals 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 defensive unit that allowed only twice in 10 games that meant they qualified unbeaten.

A guaranteed place for Oceania effectively meant a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who sailed through qualification, winning five games out of five, scoring 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. Team Melli, who lost once in a difficult third phase qualification group, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially