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Pool A

The first fixture at the famous Azteca Stadium will mirror the opener from 2010, when South Africa drew 1-1 with El Tri. The Mexican team's elimination stage history at the global showpiece includes just a single win, achieved against Bulgaria when they previously were hosts in 1986. Their coach, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that squad and will be targeting a third-ever last-eight berth as hosts. The South African side, led by veteran Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial finals since they hosted, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite having a win over Lesotho given against them for fielding an ineligible footballer.

It will mark South Korea's eleventh straight finals appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came in third place in the Best Player award when South Korea made the semi-final in 2002. He is now their manager and led them unbeaten through a anything but easy qualification group. The fourth team in Group A will be the winner of a European qualifying play-off featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

Canada have qualified for the global finals twice and, while Qatar 2022 yielded their maiden goal, it did not bring their first point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of arguably the most talented 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 progress through the UEFA playoff (the other 3 contenders 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 last five tournaments and were quarter-finalists at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified unbeaten from probably the easiest of the UEFA groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players aiming to feature at their fourth World Cups. Qatar, having finished fourth in their third phase qualification group, were given a significant boost by being chosen as a tournament host for the final phase and secured qualification with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is drawn exclusively from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland first World Cup in 28 years looks a lot like their previous outing, when they were defeated to the Seleção and the Atlas Lions; Haiti occupy the place of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the knockout stage for the first time after 8 prior group-stage exits. Haiti’s sole previous World Cup, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats than for the fate that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a doping test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have restricted traveling support due to a travel ban from the USA.

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

Pool 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 friendly matches. But over the past year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his message across and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will start against the Paraguayan side, who are playing in their sixth World Cup. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a record that has resulted to both group-stage exits and a quarter-final appearance. Their trademark defensive approach has not changed: 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 despite an iffy beginning to the third round of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side made it by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their final two matches. The group’s fourth team will come from the winner of the European playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

After successive group-stage eliminations, Die Mannschaft are no longer the feared force of old. The transition to a more attacking philosophy has introduced a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like posing a huge test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the surprise package of qualifying, finishing second behind Argentina in South America. Although they netted only 14 goals in 18 games, a defence including 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 constant declinism, where nothing is ever as good as the glorious squad 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 improbable continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualifying, scoring 25 goals without none.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe lack the galacticos of past Dutch eras, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, consistently appears a more reliable player with his national side than at club level. They open against the Japanese team, who will play in their 8th consecutive finals, 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.

The Tunisian side made sure of a third straight finals appearance by dominating a straightforward qualifying group, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are maybe not as defensive as some past Tunisian sides; they had a remarkable 14 different scorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress 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 stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first executed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

The Belgian Red Devils and the Pharaohs are emerging from the shadow of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, 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 successful side in African history, but having failed to qualify during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully fulfilled their potential on the world stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them attacking threat, but it was a defensive unit that conceded only twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified unbeaten.

A reserved place for Oceania essentially equated to a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who sailed through qualifying, winning five games out of five, netting 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. Iran, who were defeated once in a tricky third phase qualification group, are on a travel ban, possibly