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Group A

This opening match at the iconic Azteca venue will replay the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with Mexico. Mexico's elimination stage record at the global showpiece includes just one victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that squad and will be aiming for a third quarter-final appearance as tournament hosts. South Africa, coached by veteran Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, qualified for their first finals since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite having a win over Lesotho given against them for using an ineligible footballer.

This will mark South Korea's 11th consecutive finals appearance. Legend Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and finished third in the Best Player voting when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. Hong is now their manager and led them unbeaten through a far from straightforward qualification group. The final team in Group A will be the victor of a European playoff featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

The Canadian team have qualified for the World Cup twice and, although Qatar 2022 yielded their first finals goal, it did not bring their first-ever finals point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of probably the best 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 kind the group looks depends mostly on whether the Italian national team make it through the UEFA playoff (the remaining three contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have navigated the group stage in four of the past five tournaments and were quarter-finalists at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket without defeat from probably the easiest of the UEFA groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast individuals aiming to play at their fourth World Cups. Qatar, having finished fourth in their third phase qualification section, were handed a significant boost by being chosen as a host for the final round and clinched progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is selected exclusively from the Qatari league.

Pool C

Scotland return to the World Cup in 28 years looks a lot like their previous outing, when they lost to the Seleção and Morocco; the Haitian team take the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the elimination stage for the first time after 8 previous group phase exits. Haiti’s sole prior finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats than for the fate that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a doping test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have restricted traveling support due to a travel ban involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third manager in a qualifying process that included a streak of three successive losses, but there is minimal jeopardy in South American qualifying these days. He has overseen a clear upturn in form. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the best of the north African nations, capable both of overwhelming opponents and playing on the counter-attack, qualifying with a perfect win record.

Group D

At the start of last year, the USA seemed in a dismal state, 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 message across and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will begin against the Paraguayan side, who are playing in their 6th World Cup. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a record that has resulted to both group-stage eliminations and a last-eight appearance. Their trademark cautious approach has not changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most fluent Australia team and their roster is without clear stars, but in spite of an shaky start to the third phase of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their last two fixtures. The group’s fourth team will emerge from the victor of Europe’s Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

Following successive group phase eliminations, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more progressive style has introduced a fragility and the draw initially looked like presenting a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualification, finishing in second place behind Argentina in South America. While they netted 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, let in a paltry five.

Côte d’Ivoire live in a state of constant declinism, where nothing is ever quite successful as the glorious squad 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 triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualification, netting 25 goals and conceding none.

The tiniest country ever to reach the finals, Curaçao, were the fourth team drawn, though, making the group look a lot less daunting than it might have been.

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side perhaps do not possess the galacticos of previous Dutch eras, but they qualified without losing and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, always looks a more effective player with his country's side than at domestic level. They open against the Japanese team, who will participate in their eighth successive finals, and were by far the most impressive of the Asian sides in qualifying, losing one of their 16 games over the two phases, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia made sure of a third consecutive finals berth by topping a straightforward qualification section, picking up 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as defensive as certain past Tunisian teams; they had a remarkable 14 different scorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the UEFA play-off (against Ukraine in the semi, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will create a repeat of the group stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

The Belgian Red Devils and the Pharaohs are emerging from the legacy of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, scoring the net eight times but conceding 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 successful side in African history, but having failed to reach the finals during their peak period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully fulfilled their potential on the world stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them attacking threat, but it was a defence that conceded just twice in 10 games that meant they qualified undefeated.

A reserved place for Oceania effectively meant 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 booked their place in North America next summer. Iran, who were defeated only once in a tricky third phase qualifying group, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly