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Group A

The initial match at the famous Azteca Stadium will echo the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's elimination stage record at the global tournament includes just one win, secured against Bulgaria when they last were hosts in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that team and will be targeting a third-ever last-eight berth as hosts. The South African side, led by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, qualified for their first finals since they hosted, ending above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a win over Lesotho given against them for fielding an suspended footballer.

It will mark Korea Republic's eleventh successive World Cup appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished in third place in the Best Player award when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. He is now their coach and guided them without a loss through a anything but straightforward qualifying group. The fourth side in Group A will be the victor of a UEFA playoff featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

The Canadian team have qualified for the global finals on two occasions and, although Qatar 2022 brought their maiden goal, it did not deliver their first-ever 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. How favorable the draw looks hinges largely on whether the Italian national team make it through the European play-off (the remaining three teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have navigated the initial phase in four of the last five World Cups and were last-eight participants at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified without defeat from probably the easiest of the UEFA groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players aiming to feature at their fourth finals. Qatar, having finished in fourth in their third phase qualifying group, were given 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 squad is drawn entirely from the Qatari league.

Group C

Scotland's return to the finals in 28 years bears a lot like their previous outing, when they lost to the Seleção and the Atlas Lions; Haiti take the place of Norway. Their aim will be to make it to the knockout stage for the first time after eight prior group phase eliminations. Haiti’s only previous World Cup, in 1974, was remembered less for their three losses than for the ordeal that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a doping test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have restricted traveling support due to a travel ban from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third manager in a qualifying process that included a run of three successive losses, but there is little risk in South American qualification these days. He has presided over a noticeable upturn in form. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the best of the north African sides, capable both of dominating opponents 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, losing 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 message across and in November the USA beat Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will start against the Paraguayan side, who are competing in their sixth World Cup. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a record that has resulted to both group phase eliminations and a quarter-final place. Their trademark cautious approach has not changed: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australia team and their squad lacks clear superstars, but despite an shaky beginning to the third round of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by defeating 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).

Pool E

After successive group phase eliminations, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more attacking philosophy has brought a fragility and the group initially looked like presenting a huge test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualification, ending up second behind Argentina in South America. Although they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a defence featuring Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, protected by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a mere five.

Côte d’Ivoire exist in a state of permanent declinism, where nothing is ever as good as the golden generation of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Emerse Faé has proved transformative. After an implausible continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualifying, scoring 25 goals without none.

The tiniest country ever to qualify, Curaçao, were the final team picked, though, making the group look a lot less intimidating than it could have appeared.

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side perhaps lack the galacticos of past Dutch eras, but they secured qualification unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualification, consistently looks a more effective performer with his national side than at club level. They open against Japan, who will participate in their eighth consecutive World Cup, and were by some way the most dominant of the Asian sides in qualification, suffering one of their 16 games across the two groups, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia made sure of a third straight finals berth by topping a manageable qualifying section, picking up 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are maybe not as defensive as some past Tunisian teams; they had a staggering 14 separate goalscorers in qualification. 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 create a repeat of the group stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Group G

The Belgian Red Devils and Egypt are emerging from the legacy of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualifying, 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 decorated side in African football history, but having not managed to qualify during their peak period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite fulfilled their potential on the world stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them attacking threat, but it was a defence that conceded only 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, 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 only once in a difficult third-round qualification section, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly