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Pool A

The opening match at the historic Azteca venue will mirror the first game from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with Mexico. Mexico's elimination phase record at the worldwide showpiece includes just a single victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they last were hosts in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that team and will be aiming for a third last-eight appearance as tournament hosts. South Africa, led by veteran Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first World Cup since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite having a victory over Lesotho awarded against them for using an suspended player.

This will represent South Korea's 11th consecutive World Cup appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and came in third place in the Best Player award when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. Hong 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 victor of a UEFA qualifying play-off involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

Canada have qualified for the global finals on two occasions and, while Qatar 2022 brought their first finals goal, it did not bring their first point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of arguably the most talented group of players in their nation's history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How favorable the group appears hinges largely on whether the Italian national team progress through the European play-off (the remaining 3 contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have got through the initial phase in four of the last five tournaments and were last-eight participants at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket unbeaten from arguably the most straightforward of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast individuals hoping to play at their fourth World Cups. The Qatari team, having finished fourth in their third-round qualifying section, were handed a major advantage by being selected as a host for the fourth phase and secured progress with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected entirely from the Qatari league.

Pool C

Scotland's return to the World Cup in 28 years looks a lot like their last appearance, when they lost to Brazil and the Atlas Lions; the Haitian team occupy the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the knockout stage for the first time after 8 previous group-stage exits. Haiti’s sole previous finals, in 1974, was notable less for their three losses than for the fate that befell 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 became Brazil’s third coach in a qualifying campaign that included a run of three successive losses, but there is minimal jeopardy in South American qualifying these days. He has overseen a noticeable improvement. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the best of the north African nations, able both of dominating opponents and playing on the counter-attack, qualifying with a perfect win record.

Group D

At the start of 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 last year, Mauricio Pochettino has apparently begun to get his ideas understood and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will start against the Paraguayan side, who are playing in their 6th World Cup. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has led to both group-stage exits and a last-eight place. Their trademark defensive mindset hasn't altered: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australian team and their roster lacks obvious stars, but despite an shaky start 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 matches. The pool's fourth team will come from the winner of Europe’s Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

After back-to-back group phase eliminations, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The shift to a more progressive philosophy has introduced a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like posing 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 netted 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.

Côte d’Ivoire live in a state of permanent 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 qualifying, scoring 25 goals and conceding none.

The smallest country ever to qualify, Curaçao, were the final team drawn, 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 galacticos of previous Dutch eras, but they qualified without losing and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualification, always appears a more effective performer with his national side than at club level. They begin against the Japanese team, who will play in their eighth consecutive World Cup, and were by far the most impressive of the Asian nations 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 straight World Cup berth by dominating a manageable qualification group, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as dour as some past Tunisian sides; they had a remarkable 14 separate goalscorers 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 create a repeat of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first executed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

Belgium and Egypt are emerging from the legacy of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, scoring the net eight times but letting in five in two wins over Wales, finding goals easily at times, but also struggling to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most successful side in African history, but having not managed to reach the finals during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite done themselves justice on the world stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them attacking threat, but it was a defence that allowed only twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified unbeaten.

A reserved place for Oceania effectively equated to a spot at the finals for the All Whites, 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. Team Melli, who were defeated only once in a tricky third-round qualification group, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly