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Pool A

The opening match at the famous Azteca Stadium will mirror the first game from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with Mexico. The Mexican team's knockout phase record at the worldwide showpiece features just one victory, secured against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be targeting a third-ever last-eight appearance as tournament hosts. The South African side, led by veteran Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first finals since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a win over Lesotho given against them for using an suspended footballer.

It will represent South Korea's 11th straight World Cup appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and finished third in the Best Player award when South Korea made the last four in 2002. Hong is now their coach and guided them unbeaten through a anything but straightforward qualification section. The fourth team in Group A will be the victor of a UEFA qualifying play-off involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

Canada have made it for the global finals twice and, although Qatar 2022 brought their first goal, it did not deliver their first finals point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of arguably the best group of players in their history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How favorable the group appears depends largely on whether Italy progress through the European play-off (the remaining three contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have got through the group stage in four of the last five World Cups and were last-eight participants at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified unbeaten from probably the most straightforward of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players aiming to feature at their fourth World Cups. Qatar, having ended up fourth in their third phase qualifying group, were given a major advantage by being chosen as a host for the final round and clinched qualification with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is selected entirely from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland return to the finals in 28 years bears a lot like their last outing, when they were defeated to the Seleção and Morocco; the Haitian team occupy the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the elimination phase for the first time after 8 previous group-stage exits. Haiti’s sole previous World Cup, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats than for the fate that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a drugs 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 run of three successive defeats, but there is little jeopardy in South American qualifying these days. He has presided over a noticeable improvement. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the best of the north African nations, able both of overwhelming opponents and playing on the counter, qualifying with a perfect win record.

Pool 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 apparently 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 playing in their sixth 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 last-eight place. Their trademark defensive approach hasn't altered: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most free-flowing Australian team and their roster lacks clear stars, but despite an iffy beginning to the third round of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their last two matches. The group’s fourth team will emerge from the winner of Europe’s Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

Following back-to-back group phase eliminations, Germany are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more progressive philosophy has brought a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like presenting a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualifying, finishing second behind Argentina in South America. Although 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 exist in a state of constant declinism, where nothing is ever as successful as the glorious 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 improbable continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualifying, scoring 25 goals without none.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side perhaps do not possess the star quality of past Dutch eras, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualification, consistently appears a more effective performer with his national side than at domestic level. They begin against Japan, who will participate in their 8th successive World Cup, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian sides in qualification, suffering one of their 16 games across the two groups, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side made sure of a third straight finals appearance by topping a straightforward qualifying group, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as defensive as certain previous Tunisian teams; they had a staggering 14 separate goalscorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the UEFA playoff (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 executed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Group G

Belgium and Egypt are moving on from the legacy of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, scoring the net eight times but conceding five in two wins over Wales, finding goals freely at times, but also struggling 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 done themselves justice on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them attacking threat, but it was a defensive unit that conceded just twice in 10 games that meant they qualified unbeaten.

A guaranteed 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 FIFA-ranked side to have booked their place in North America next summer. Iran, who were defeated once in a difficult third-round qualifying group, are on a travel ban, possibly