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Pool A

This first game at the historic Azteca Stadium will echo the first game from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with Mexico. The Mexican team's knockout phase record at the global showpiece includes just one win, secured against Bulgaria when they previously hosted in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that squad and will be targeting a third last-eight appearance as hosts. The South African side, led by veteran 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 given against them for fielding an ineligible player.

It will mark South Korea's eleventh straight World Cup qualification. Icon Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and finished in third place in the Best Player voting when South Korea made the last four in 2002. He is now their manager and guided them unbeaten through a far from easy qualifying section. The final side in Group A will be the victor of a European playoff featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

Canada have made it for the global finals on two occasions and, while Qatar 2022 yielded their first goal, it did not bring their first finals point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of arguably the best squad in their history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which kind the draw appears hinges mostly on whether Italy progress through the European playoff (the other 3 contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After 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 quarter-finalists 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 veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast individuals aiming to feature at their fourth World Cups. The Qatari team, having finished in fourth in their third phase qualification group, were handed a major boost by being selected as a host for the fourth phase and clinched progress with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected entirely from the Qatari league.

Pool C

Scotland's return to the World Cup in 28 years bears a lot like their last outing, when they were defeated to the Seleção and the Atlas Lions; Haiti take the place of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the knockout phase for the very first time after 8 prior group phase eliminations. Haiti’s only previous finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats than for the ordeal that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a drugs test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have restricted traveling support due to travel restrictions from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third manager in a qualification campaign that featured a streak of three successive defeats, but there is little risk in South American qualification these days. He has overseen a clear improvement. 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, securing qualification with a 100% win record.

Pool D

Early last year, the USA seemed in a poor condition, 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 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 secured one game at each of the prior five, a record that has resulted to both group-stage exits and a last-eight place. Their trademark defensive approach has not altered: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australian side and their roster is without obvious stars, but in spite of an iffy start to the third phase of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side made it by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their final two matches. The group’s fourth team will come from the winner of Europe’s playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following successive group-stage exits, Germany are no longer the feared force of old. The transition to a more progressive philosophy has brought a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like posing a massive test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the revelations of qualifying, ending up second behind Argentina in South America. While they netted 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, let in a mere five.

Ivory Coast exist in a state of permanent declinism, where nothing is ever as successful as the glorious generation of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. After an implausible continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, scoring 25 goals and conceding reply.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side perhaps lack the galacticos of previous Dutch generations, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, consistently appears a more effective player with his national side than at domestic level. They open against the Japanese team, who will play in their 8th consecutive World Cup, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian sides in qualification, suffering 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 finals appearance by dominating a straightforward qualifying group, picking up 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as dour as some past Tunisian sides; they had a remarkable 14 separate goalscorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the European playoff (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

The Belgian Red Devils and the Pharaohs are emerging from the legacy of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualification, finding the net eight times but letting in five in two wins over Wales, scoring freely at times, but also laboring to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most successful side in African history, but having not managed to reach the finals during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully done themselves justice on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defence that conceded only twice in 10 games that meant they qualified unbeaten.

A guaranteed place for Oceania essentially meant a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who cruised 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 once in a difficult third phase qualification group, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially