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Group A

The first fixture at the famous Azteca Stadium will mirror the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana drew 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's knockout stage record at the worldwide tournament includes just one victory, secured against Bulgaria when they previously hosted in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that squad and will be targeting a third quarter-final appearance as hosts. The South African side, led by veteran Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, qualified for their first finals since hosting, ending above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a win over Lesotho awarded against them for using an suspended footballer.

This will mark Korea Republic's 11th straight finals appearance. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came in third place in the Golden Ball award when South Korea made the last four in 2002. Hong is now their coach and led them without a loss through a anything but straightforward qualifying section. The final side 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 World Cup twice and, although Qatar 2022 yielded their maiden finals goal, it did not bring their first finals point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of arguably the most talented group of players in their nation's history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which favorable the group appears depends mostly on whether Italy progress through the European play-off (the other 3 teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss 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 unbeaten from arguably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players hoping to play at their fourth World Cups. Qatar, having finished fourth in their third phase qualification group, were handed a major boost by being chosen as a host for the final round and clinched qualification with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected exclusively from the Qatari league.

Group C

Scotland return to the World Cup in 28 years bears a lot like their previous outing, when they lost to the Seleção and the Atlas Lions; Haiti take the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the elimination stage for the first time after eight prior group phase exits. Haiti’s sole prior World Cup, in 1974, was remembered 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 deported. They will have limited away support due to travel restrictions involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third manager in a qualification process that featured a run of three consecutive losses, but there is little jeopardy in South American qualification these days. He has presided over a noticeable improvement. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the strongest of the north African sides, able both of overwhelming rivals and playing on the counter-attack, qualifying with a perfect record.

Pool D

Early last year, the United States seemed in a poor state, suffering defeats 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 apparently begun to get his ideas understood and in November the USA beat Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will start against Paraguay, who are playing in their sixth finals. They have secured one game at each of the prior five, a record that has resulted to both group phase eliminations and a quarter-final appearance. Their familiar cautious approach hasn't 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 roster lacks clear stars, but despite an shaky beginning to the third phase of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their final two fixtures. The group’s fourth team will come from the winner of Europe’s Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

Following successive group phase exits, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The shift to a more progressive style has introduced a vulnerability and the group initially looked like posing a massive test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualification, finishing second behind Argentina in South America. While they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline featuring Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, let in a mere five.

Ivory Coast live in a state of permanent pessimism, where nothing is ever quite successful as the golden squad of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved transformative. After an improbable continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualifying, scoring 25 goals without none.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe lack the galacticos of previous Dutch generations, but they qualified without losing and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, always appears a more reliable player with his country's side than at club level. They begin against the Japanese team, who will play in their eighth successive World Cup, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian sides in qualification, losing one of their 16 games over the two phases, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side made sure of a third consecutive World Cup berth by topping a straightforward qualifying section, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are perhaps not as defensive as certain past Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 different goalscorers 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 create a rematch of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first executed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

Belgium and Egypt are emerging from the shadow of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualification, 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 successful side in African history, but having not managed to qualify during their peak period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite fulfilled their potential on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them attacking threat, but it was a defensive unit that conceded only twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified undefeated.

A guaranteed place for Oceania essentially equated to a spot at the finals for New Zealand, 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 secured their place in North America next summer. Iran, who were defeated only once in a tricky third-round qualifying section, are on a travel ban, potentially