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Pool A

The initial match at the famous Azteca venue will echo the first game from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with Mexico. Mexico's knockout stage history at the worldwide tournament features just a single victory, secured against Bulgaria when they previously were hosts in 1986. Their manager, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that squad and will be aiming for a third quarter-final berth as hosts. The South African side, coached by experienced Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial World Cup since they hosted, finishing above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a win over Lesotho given against them for fielding an ineligible player.

It will mark South Korea's eleventh straight finals appearance. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished in third place in the Golden Ball voting when South Korea made the last four 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 UEFA playoff featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

The Canadian team have qualified for the World Cup twice and, although Qatar 2022 brought their maiden finals goal, it did not bring their first finals point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of probably the most talented squad in their nation's 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 Italy progress through the UEFA playoff (the remaining three contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have navigated the group stage in four of the last five World Cups and were quarter-finalists at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified without defeat from arguably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have individuals aiming to feature at their fourth finals. The Qatari team, having finished in fourth in their third phase qualification section, were handed a significant boost by being selected as a host for the fourth phase and clinched qualification with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is selected entirely from the Qatari league.

Group C

Scotland return to the finals in 28 years bears a lot like their previous appearance, when they lost to Brazil and the Atlas Lions; Haiti take the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to make it to the knockout stage for the very first time after eight previous group phase eliminations. Haiti’s only prior finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats than for the ordeal that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a drugs test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have limited traveling support due to a travel ban from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third coach in a qualification process that included a run of three consecutive defeats, but there is minimal risk in South American qualification these days. He has presided over a clear improvement. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the best of the north African nations, capable both of dominating opponents and playing on the counter-attack, qualifying with a perfect record.

Pool D

At the start of last year, the USA seemed in a dismal condition, 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 ideas understood and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will begin against the Paraguayan side, who are competing in their 6th World Cup. They have secured one game at each of the prior five, a statistic that has resulted to both group phase eliminations and a quarter-final place. Their familiar cautious approach has not altered: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most fluent Australian side and their roster is without clear stars, but in spite of an shaky start to the third round of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their final two matches. The pool's final team will emerge from the victor of Europe’s playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

After back-to-back group-stage exits, Die Mannschaft are no longer the feared force of old. The transition to a more progressive style has brought a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like presenting a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualifying, ending up second behind Argentina in South America. While they netted 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 paltry five.

Ivory Coast exist in a state of constant declinism, where nothing is ever as successful as the glorious generation 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 qualification, netting 25 goals and conceding none.

The tiniest country ever to reach the finals, the Curaçao team, were the fourth team drawn, though, making the group look a lot far less intimidating than it might have been.

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe lack the galacticos of past Dutch eras, but they qualified without losing and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualification, always looks a more effective performer with his national side than at domestic level. They open against the Japanese team, who will play in their eighth successive World Cup, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian sides in qualification, losing one of their 16 games over the two phases, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia made sure of a third straight World Cup berth by topping a manageable qualification group, picking up 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as defensive as some past Tunisian teams; they had a remarkable 14 different goalscorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the UEFA playoff (against Ukraine in the semi-final, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will create a rematch of the group stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Group G

The Belgian Red Devils and Egypt are moving on from the legacy of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualification, finding the net eight times but conceding five in two wins over Wales, scoring 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 done themselves justice on the world stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them attacking threat, but it was a defence that conceded just twice in 10 games that meant they qualified unbeaten.

A guaranteed place for Oceania essentially equated to a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who sailed through qualifying, 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. Iran, who were defeated only once in a tricky third phase qualification section, are on a travel ban, potentially