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Pool A

The first match at the iconic Azteca venue will echo the first game from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with Mexico. Mexico's elimination stage history at the worldwide tournament features just one victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that squad and will be aiming for a third quarter-final berth as tournament hosts. South Africa, coached by experienced Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, qualified for their first finals since hosting, ending above Nigeria and Benin despite having a victory over Lesotho given against them for using an suspended player.

It will mark South Korea's eleventh successive 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. He is now their manager and guided them without a loss through a far from straightforward qualifying group. The fourth team 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

The Canadian team have qualified for the World Cup on two occasions and, although Qatar 2022 brought their maiden goal, it did not bring their first point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of probably the best group of players in their nation's history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How favorable the draw looks depends largely on whether Italy make it through the UEFA playoff (the other 3 teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have navigated the initial phase in four of the past five tournaments and were quarter-finalists at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified unbeaten from arguably the most straightforward of the UEFA groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players aiming to play at their fourth finals. Qatar, having finished in fourth in their third-round qualification group, were given a major advantage by being selected as a host for the fourth phase and secured qualification with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is drawn entirely from the domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland's return to the finals in 28 years looks a lot like their previous appearance, when they were defeated to the Seleção and Morocco; the Haitian team take the place of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the knockout stage for the first time after 8 prior group phase eliminations. Haiti’s sole previous finals, in 1974, was notable less for their three defeats than for the ordeal that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a drugs test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have limited 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 consecutive defeats, but there is minimal risk in South American qualifying these days. He has presided over a noticeable improvement. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the strongest of the north African nations, able both of dominating opponents and playing on the counter, securing qualification with a perfect win record.

Group D

Early last year, the United States 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 understood and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will start against the Paraguayan side, who are competing in their 6th World Cup. They have won one game at each of the prior five, a record that has resulted to both group-stage eliminations and a last-eight place. Their familiar cautious approach has not changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australian side and their roster lacks clear superstars, but in spite of an shaky start 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 final team will come from the winner of Europe’s Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

After back-to-back group-stage exits, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The shift to a more attacking style has introduced a vulnerability and the group initially looked like posing a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the surprise package of qualifying, ending up in second place behind Argentina in South America. Although they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline including 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 generation 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 qualification, netting 25 goals without none.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side perhaps do not possess the galacticos of previous Dutch eras, but they secured qualification without losing and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualification, consistently looks a more reliable performer with his national side than at domestic level. They begin against the Japanese team, who will participate in their 8th consecutive finals, and were by some way the most dominant of the Asian nations in qualification, losing one of their 16 games over the two groups, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side made sure of a third consecutive World Cup appearance by topping a straightforward qualifying group, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as defensive as some previous Tunisian sides; they had a remarkable 14 separate scorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the European 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 executed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

The Belgian Red Devils and Egypt are moving on from the shadow of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualifying, scoring the net eight times but letting in five in two wins over Wales, scoring easily at times, but also struggling to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most decorated side in African football history, but having not managed to reach the finals during their golden 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 the All Whites, who sailed through qualification, winning five games out of five, scoring 29 goals, nine of them by Chris Wood, but they are the lowest FIFA-ranked side to have secured their place in North America next summer. Iran, who lost once in a difficult third-round qualifying group, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially