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Group A

This opening game at the iconic Azteca Stadium will replay the opener from 2010, when South Africa drew 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's elimination stage history at the global tournament includes just a single victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they previously were hosts in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that squad and will be targeting a third last-eight appearance as hosts. South Africa, led by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial finals since hosting, ending above Nigeria and Benin even after having a victory over Lesotho awarded against them for using an ineligible footballer.

This will mark Korea Republic's 11th consecutive finals qualification. Legend Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and finished third in the Best Player voting when South Korea made the semi-final in 2002. Hong is now their manager and guided them without a loss through a anything but easy qualification section. The final team in Group A will be the winner of a European playoff featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

The Canadian team have made it 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 head coach of arguably the best squad in their 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 UEFA play-off (the other 3 teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have got through the group stage in four of the last five tournaments and were last-eight participants at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket without defeat from probably the most straightforward of the UEFA groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players aiming to feature at their fourth finals. Qatar, having finished fourth in their third-round qualifying section, were handed a major boost by being selected as a tournament host for the fourth round and clinched progress with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is selected exclusively from the domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland's return to the finals in 28 years looks a lot like their last outing, when they lost to the Seleção and Morocco; Haiti take the spot of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the knockout phase for the very first time after 8 previous group phase eliminations. Haiti’s only previous finals, in 1974, was notable less for their three defeats than for the ordeal that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a doping test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have restricted away support due to travel restrictions from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third manager in a qualification campaign that featured a streak of three consecutive defeats, but there is minimal jeopardy in South American qualification these days. He has presided over a clear improvement. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the strongest of the north African nations, capable both of overwhelming opponents and playing on the counter, securing qualification with a perfect win record.

Group D

Early 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 seemingly begun to get his message understood and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will begin against the Paraguayan side, who are competing in their sixth finals. They have secured one game at each of the prior five, a statistic that has resulted to both group-stage eliminations and a last-eight appearance. Their trademark cautious mindset hasn't altered: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australia team and their squad lacks obvious superstars, but in spite of an shaky start to the third round of Asian qualifying, 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 emerge from the winner of the European Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following back-to-back group phase eliminations, Germany are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more attacking style has introduced a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like presenting a massive test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualification, finishing second behind Argentina in South America. While 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, let in a paltry five.

Ivory Coast exist in a state of constant declinism, where nothing is ever as good as the glorious generation of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. After an improbable continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, netting 25 goals and conceding reply.

The smallest country ever to reach the finals, the Curaçao team, were the final team picked, though, making the group look a lot less daunting than it might have been.

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side perhaps do not possess the star quality of past Dutch eras, but they secured qualification without losing and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualification, always appears a more effective performer with his national side than at domestic level. They open against the Japanese team, who will participate in their eighth successive World Cup, and were by far the most impressive of the Asian sides in qualifying, losing one of their 16 games across the two phases, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia secured of a third straight World Cup appearance by topping a manageable qualification group, picking up 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are perhaps not as dour as some previous Tunisian teams; they had a remarkable 14 different goalscorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the UEFA playoff (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 performed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Group G

The Belgian Red Devils and Egypt are moving on from the legacy of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualification, finding the net eight times but letting in five in two wins over Wales, scoring easily at times, but also laboring to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most decorated side in African history, but having not managed to reach the finals during their peak period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite done themselves justice on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defence that conceded only twice in 10 games that meant they qualified undefeated.

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, scoring 29 goals, nine of them by Chris Wood, but they are the lowest FIFA-ranked side to have booked their place in North America next summer. Iran, who lost only once in a tricky third-round qualifying section, are on a travel ban, possibly