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Group A

The opening fixture at the famous Azteca Stadium will echo the first game from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with Mexico. The Mexican team's elimination stage history at the worldwide tournament includes just a single victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that squad and will be targeting a third quarter-final berth as tournament hosts. The South African side, led by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first World Cup since they hosted, ending above Nigeria and Benin despite having a victory over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an ineligible footballer.

It will mark Korea Republic's 11th consecutive World Cup qualification. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came in third place in the Best Player award when South Korea reached the semi-final in 2002. Hong is now their coach and guided them unbeaten through a far from straightforward qualifying section. The fourth team in Group A will be the victor of a UEFA playoff featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

Canada have made it for the World Cup twice and, while Qatar 2022 brought their maiden goal, it did not deliver their first finals point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of probably 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 depends mostly 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, Switzerland have navigated the initial phase in four of the past five World Cups and were last-eight participants at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified unbeaten from arguably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have individuals hoping to play at their fourth finals. The Qatari team, having finished in fourth in their third-round qualification section, were given a major boost by being chosen as a host for the final phase and secured progress with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is drawn exclusively from the Qatari league.

Pool C

Scotland's first World Cup in 28 years bears a lot like their last outing, when they were defeated to the Seleção and the Atlas Lions; Haiti occupy the spot of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the elimination phase for the first time after eight prior group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s sole previous finals, in 1974, was notable less for their three defeats than for the fate that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a drugs 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 qualification campaign that included a run of three successive defeats, but there is little risk in South American qualifying these days. He has presided over a noticeable upturn in form. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the best of the north African sides, capable both of overwhelming rivals and playing on the counter-attack, securing qualification with a perfect record.

Group 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 friendly matches. But over the last year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his message understood and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will start against Paraguay, who are competing in their sixth World Cup. They have won 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 defensive approach has not changed: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most free-flowing Australian side and their squad lacks obvious superstars, but despite 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 pool's fourth team will come from the victor of Europe’s playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

After successive group phase exits, Germany are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more attacking style has brought a fragility and the draw initially looked like presenting a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualification, finishing in second place behind Argentina in South America. While 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 paltry five.

Ivory Coast live in a state of constant 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 inspirational. Following an improbable continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, scoring 25 goals and conceding reply.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side maybe do not possess the star quality of past Dutch generations, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, always appears a more effective performer with his country's side than at club level. They open against Japan, who will participate in their 8th consecutive finals, and were by some way the most dominant of the Asian nations in qualifying, suffering one of their 16 games across the two phases, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side made sure of a third straight World Cup berth by dominating a straightforward qualifying group, picking up 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as defensive as certain past Tunisian teams; they had a staggering 14 separate scorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the European play-off (against Ukraine in the semi, 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 Egypt are emerging from the shadow of their most talented 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 easily 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 failed to qualify 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 unbeaten.

A reserved place for Oceania essentially meant 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 booked their place in North America next summer. Team Melli, who lost once in a tricky third phase qualifying group, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly