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Group A

The initial game at the famous Azteca venue will mirror the opener from 2010, when Bafana Bafana drew 1-1 with El Tri. The Mexican team's elimination stage history at the global showpiece features just one victory, secured against Bulgaria when they previously were hosts in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that squad and will be aiming for a third last-eight berth as tournament hosts. South Africa, coached by experienced Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, qualified for their first World Cup since they hosted, ending above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a victory over Lesotho given against them for fielding an suspended footballer.

This will represent Korea Republic's eleventh straight finals qualification. Icon Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and finished third in the Best Player voting when South Korea made the last four in 2002. He is now their manager and guided them without a loss through a anything but straightforward qualification group. The final side in Group A will be the winner of a UEFA playoff featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

Canada have made it for the global finals on two occasions and, although Qatar 2022 yielded their maiden finals goal, it did not bring their first-ever finals point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of arguably the best group of players in their history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which favorable the group appears hinges mostly on whether the Italian national team make it through the UEFA playoff (the remaining 3 contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have navigated the group stage in four of the past five World Cups and were last-eight participants at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified without defeat from arguably the easiest of the UEFA groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players hoping to play at their fourth World Cups. The Qatari team, having ended up in fourth in their third-round qualifying section, were handed a significant advantage by being chosen as a tournament host for the fourth round and clinched qualification with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected entirely from the domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland's return to the finals in 28 years looks a lot like their previous outing, when they lost to the Seleção and Morocco; Haiti take the spot of Norway. Their primary objective will be to make it to the knockout stage for the very first time after eight previous group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s sole previous World Cup, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats than for the ordeal that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a doping test, was assaulted 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 streak of three successive losses, but there is minimal risk in South American qualifying these days. He has presided over a clear upturn in form. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the strongest of the north African nations, capable both of dominating rivals and playing on the counter, securing qualification with a 100% record.

Pool D

At the start of last year, the United States 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 last year, Mauricio Pochettino has apparently begun to get his ideas understood and in November the USA beat Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will begin against Paraguay, who are playing in their 6th World Cup. They have won one game at each of the prior five, a statistic that has led to both group phase exits and a quarter-final place. Their familiar defensive approach has not changed: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most free-flowing Australian side and their roster is without clear stars, but despite an iffy start to the third round 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 emerge from the victor of Europe’s Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

Following back-to-back group-stage exits, Germany are no longer the bogeymen of old. The shift to a more attacking 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 qualifying, finishing in second place behind Argentina in South America. Although they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline including Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, protected by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, let in a paltry five.

Côte d’Ivoire live in a state of constant declinism, where nothing is ever quite successful as the golden generation of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Emerse Faé has proved transformative. Following an improbable continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualifying, netting 25 goals and conceding none.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side perhaps lack the star quality of past Dutch generations, but they qualified without losing and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, consistently appears a more reliable performer with his country's side than at domestic level. They begin against Japan, who will play in their 8th successive World Cup, and were by far the most dominant of the Asian nations in qualification, suffering one of their 16 games across the two groups, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia made sure of a third consecutive finals berth by dominating a straightforward qualification section, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as defensive as some past Tunisian teams; they had a staggering 14 separate scorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the European play-off (against Ukraine in the semi-final, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will create a repeat of the group stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Group G

Belgium and Egypt are moving on from the legacy of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualification, scoring 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 successful 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 just twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified undefeated.

A reserved place for Oceania effectively equated to a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who cruised 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 only once in a difficult third-round qualification group, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially