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Group A

The opening fixture at the historic Azteca Stadium will replay the opener from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with Mexico. The Mexican team's knockout stage history at the global showpiece features just one win, secured against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. Their coach, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be aiming for a third-ever last-eight berth as tournament hosts. South Africa, led by veteran Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, qualified for their first finals since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a win over Lesotho given against them for using an ineligible player.

This will mark South Korea's 11th successive World Cup qualification. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came third in the Best Player voting when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. Hong is now their coach and guided them unbeaten through a far from straightforward qualification group. The fourth team 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 global finals twice and, although Qatar 2022 brought their first goal, it did not bring their first-ever point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of probably the best squad in their history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which favorable the group appears depends largely on whether the Italian national team progress through the UEFA playoff (the remaining three teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have got through 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 probably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have individuals aiming to play at their fourth World Cups. The Qatari team, having ended up fourth in their third phase qualifying group, were handed a significant advantage by being chosen as a tournament host for the final round and secured qualification with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected exclusively from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland's return to the finals in 28 years bears a lot like their last appearance, when they lost to Brazil and Morocco; the Haitian team occupy the spot of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the elimination stage for the very first time after eight previous group phase eliminations. Haiti’s sole prior finals, 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 drugs test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have restricted traveling support due to travel restrictions involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third manager in a qualifying process that featured a streak of three successive losses, but there is little jeopardy in South American qualifying these days. He has overseen a clear improvement. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the best of the north African sides, able both of overwhelming opponents and playing on the counter-attack, qualifying with a 100% win record.

Group D

Early 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 past year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his message understood and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will begin 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 resulted to both group phase exits and a quarter-final place. Their trademark cautious approach hasn't altered: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most free-flowing Australian team and their roster lacks clear stars, but in spite of an shaky beginning 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 fixtures. The pool's fourth team will emerge from the winner of Europe’s playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following back-to-back group-stage eliminations, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The shift to a more progressive philosophy has brought a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like posing a massive test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualification, ending up second behind Argentina in South America. While they scored 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, let in a paltry five.

Ivory Coast live in a state of constant pessimism, where nothing is ever as good as the golden squad of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved transformative. After an implausible continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, scoring 25 goals and conceding none.

The tiniest country ever to reach the finals, Curaçao, were the fourth 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 do not possess the galacticos of previous Dutch eras, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualification, consistently looks a more reliable player with his country's side than at domestic level. They open against Japan, who will participate in their eighth consecutive World Cup, and were by far the most dominant of the Asian sides in qualification, suffering one of their 16 games over the two groups, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia made sure of a third straight finals berth by topping a manageable qualifying section, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are maybe not as dour as certain past Tunisian sides; they had a remarkable 14 different scorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the European play-off (against Ukraine in the semi-final, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will set up a repeat of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first executed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

Belgium and the Pharaohs are moving on from the shadow of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, finding the net eight times but letting in 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 fully fulfilled their potential on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defensive unit that conceded only twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified undefeated.

A guaranteed place for Oceania effectively meant a spot at the finals for the All Whites, who sailed 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. Iran, who lost only once in a tricky third-round qualification section, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially