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Pool A

This first fixture at the historic Azteca Stadium will echo the opener from 2010, when South Africa drew 1-1 with Mexico. The Mexican team's elimination phase history at the global showpiece features just one victory, secured against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. Their manager, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that squad and will be targeting a third-ever quarter-final appearance as hosts. The South African side, coached by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial World Cup since they hosted, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a win over Lesotho awarded against them for using an suspended player.

This will represent South Korea's eleventh straight finals appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and finished third in the Best Player award when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. Hong is now their coach and led them without a loss through a far from easy qualifying group. The final side in Group A will be the victor of a UEFA playoff involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

The Canadian team have qualified for the World Cup on two occasions 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 history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which kind the group appears hinges 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).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have got through 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 probably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players hoping to play at their fourth finals. The Qatari team, having finished fourth in their third-round qualifying group, were given a major advantage by being chosen as a host for the fourth phase and clinched qualification with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is selected exclusively from the domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland return to the World Cup in 28 years looks a lot like their last appearance, when they were defeated to Brazil and Morocco; the Haitian team take the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to make it to the knockout phase for the very first time after eight prior group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s only previous World Cup, in 1974, was remembered less for their three losses than for the fate that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a doping 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 qualifying campaign that included a streak of three successive losses, but there is minimal risk in South American qualifying these days. He has overseen a noticeable improvement. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the strongest of the north African nations, capable both of dominating opponents and playing on the counter-attack, qualifying with a perfect record.

Group 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 seemingly begun to get his ideas across and in November the USA beat Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will start against the Paraguayan side, who are competing in their 6th finals. They have won one game at each of the prior five, a record that has led to both group-stage eliminations and a quarter-final appearance. Their trademark cautious mindset has not altered: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most free-flowing Australia side and their squad is without obvious stars, but despite an iffy beginning to the third phase of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their final two fixtures. The group’s fourth team will emerge from the winner of Europe’s playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

After successive group phase exits, Germany are no longer the feared force of old. The shift to a more attacking philosophy has brought a fragility and the draw initially looked like posing a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the surprise package of qualification, finishing 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, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a mere five.

Côte d’Ivoire live in a state of constant declinism, where nothing is ever as good as the golden generation of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved transformative. Following an improbable continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualifying, netting 25 goals without reply.

The smallest country ever to qualify, Curaçao, were the final team drawn, though, making the group look a lot far less daunting than it could have appeared.

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side maybe do not possess the star quality of previous Dutch eras, but they qualified without losing and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualification, consistently appears a more reliable player with his country's side than at domestic level. They begin against the Japanese team, who will play in their 8th successive World Cup, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian sides in qualifying, losing one of their 16 games over the two groups, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia secured of a third straight finals berth by dominating a straightforward qualification section, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are maybe not as defensive as some past Tunisian teams; they had a staggering 14 different scorers in qualifying. 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 Egypt are moving on from the shadow of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, scoring 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 golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite fulfilled their potential on the world stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them attacking threat, but it was a defensive unit that conceded only twice in 10 games that meant they qualified undefeated.

A reserved place for Oceania essentially equated to a spot at the finals for the All Whites, who cruised through qualification, winning five games out of five, scoring 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. Iran, who lost once in a tricky third-round qualifying group, are on a travel ban, potentially