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Pool A

This first match at the famous Azteca venue will echo the opener from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with Mexico. Mexico's knockout stage record at the worldwide showpiece features just a single win, secured against Bulgaria when they last were hosts in 1986. Their coach, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that team and will be aiming for a third last-eight appearance as tournament hosts. South Africa, coached by experienced Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, qualified for their first finals since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a victory over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an ineligible footballer.

It will mark South Korea's 11th successive World Cup appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came in third place in the Best Player award when South Korea made the last four in 2002. He is now their manager and guided them without a loss through a anything but easy 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

Canada have made it for the World Cup on two occasions and, although Qatar 2022 brought their first goal, it did not deliver their first-ever finals point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach 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. The extent to which favorable the group appears depends mostly on whether the Italian national team make it through the UEFA play-off (the remaining three teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have got through the initial phase in four of the last five World Cups and were last-eight participants at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket without defeat from probably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players hoping to feature at their fourth World Cups. Qatar, having finished in fourth in their third-round qualification group, were given a significant boost by being chosen as a host for the fourth phase and secured progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is selected exclusively from the Qatari league.

Pool C

Scotland's return to the finals in 28 years bears a lot like their last appearance, when they lost to the Seleção and the Atlas Lions; Haiti occupy the spot of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the elimination stage for the first time after eight previous group phase eliminations. Haiti’s only prior finals, in 1974, was notable less for their three defeats than for the ordeal that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a doping test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have limited away support due to a travel ban from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third manager in a qualifying process that featured a run of three consecutive defeats, but there is minimal risk in South American qualifying these days. He has overseen a clear upturn in form. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the best of the north African nations, capable both of dominating rivals and playing on the counter-attack, securing qualification with a 100% record.

Group D

Early last year, the USA seemed in a dismal state, suffering defeats 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 across and in November the USA beat Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will begin against Paraguay, who are playing in their sixth finals. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has resulted to both group-stage exits and a quarter-final appearance. Their trademark cautious approach has not 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 is without clear stars, but in spite of an iffy beginning to the third phase of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their final two matches. The group’s fourth team will emerge from the victor of the European Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

After successive group-stage eliminations, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The shift to a more progressive style has brought a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like posing 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 scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a defence featuring Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, let in a paltry five.

Ivory Coast live in a state of constant pessimism, where nothing is ever quite successful as the golden generation of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control 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 ruthless in qualification, netting 25 goals without reply.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side maybe do not possess the galacticos of previous Dutch generations, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, consistently appears a more reliable performer with his country's side than at domestic level. They open against the Japanese team, who will play in their 8th successive finals, and were by far the most impressive of the Asian nations in qualifying, losing one of their 16 games over the two groups, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side secured of a third consecutive finals berth by topping a manageable qualification section, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are perhaps not as defensive as some previous Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 separate goalscorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the European play-off (against Ukraine in the semi-final, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will set up a rematch of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Group G

The Belgian Red Devils and the Pharaohs are moving on 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 history, but having failed 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 attacking threat, but it was a defensive unit that allowed just twice in 10 games that meant they qualified undefeated.

A reserved place for Oceania effectively equated to a spot at the finals for New Zealand, 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. Iran, who lost only once in a tricky third phase qualifying section, are on a travel ban, potentially