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Group A

This opening match at the iconic Azteca venue will mirror the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's knockout phase record at the worldwide showpiece features just one win, achieved against Bulgaria when they previously were hosts in 1986. Their coach, 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 manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first finals since hosting, ending above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a win over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an ineligible player.

This will represent South Korea's 11th consecutive World Cup appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and came in third place in the Golden Ball voting when South Korea reached the semi-final in 2002. He is now their manager and led them without a loss through a anything but easy qualification section. The fourth side 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

The Canadian team have qualified for the global finals twice and, although Qatar 2022 yielded their first goal, it did not deliver their first-ever point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of arguably the most talented squad in their nation's history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which favorable the draw appears hinges largely on whether Italy make it through the UEFA playoff (the other three 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 past five World Cups and were quarter-finalists at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified without defeat from probably the most straightforward of the UEFA groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have individuals hoping to feature at their fourth finals. The Qatari team, having ended up in fourth in their third-round qualification group, were handed a significant boost by being chosen as a tournament host for the fourth round and secured progress with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected entirely from the Qatari league.

Group C

Scotland's return to the World Cup in 28 years bears a lot like their last appearance, when they lost to Brazil and the Atlas Lions; the Haitian team occupy the spot of Norway. Their primary objective will be to make it to the elimination phase for the very first time after eight prior group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s sole prior World Cup, in 1974, was notable less for their three losses 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 away support due to travel restrictions from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third manager in a qualifying process that included a streak of three successive defeats, but there is minimal jeopardy in South American qualification these days. He has overseen a clear upturn in form. 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, qualifying with a 100% win record.

Pool D

At the start of last year, the United States seemed in a dismal state, suffering defeats to Panama and Canada in the Concacaf Nations League and to Turkey and Switzerland in friendly matches. But over the past year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his message across and in November the USA beat Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will begin against the Paraguayan side, who are competing in their sixth finals. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a record that has resulted to both group-stage eliminations and a quarter-final place. Their trademark defensive mindset has not changed: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most fluent Australian side and their roster is without clear stars, but despite an shaky start to the third round of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their final two matches. The pool's final team will come from the victor of Europe’s playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

Following back-to-back group phase exits, Germany are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more progressive 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 qualification, ending up second behind Argentina in South America. Although they netted 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.

Côte d’Ivoire live in a state of constant pessimism, 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, head coach Emerse Faé has proved transformative. Following an improbable continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, netting 25 goals and conceding none.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side maybe do not possess the galacticos of previous Dutch generations, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, always appears a more effective player with his national side than at domestic level. They begin against the Japanese team, who will participate in their 8th successive World Cup, and were by far the most impressive 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 secured of a third consecutive finals berth by dominating a straightforward qualification group, picking up 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as defensive as some past Tunisian sides; they had a remarkable 14 separate goalscorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the UEFA playoff (against Ukraine in the semi, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will set up a repeat of the group stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first executed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Group G

Belgium and the Pharaohs are moving on 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 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 peak period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite fulfilled their potential on the world 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 undefeated.

A reserved place for Oceania effectively equated to a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who sailed through qualification, 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 lost once in a difficult third-round qualifying section, are on a travel ban, potentially