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Group A

This first game at the famous Azteca venue will echo the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with Mexico. The Mexican team's elimination stage history at the worldwide tournament features just one victory, secured against Bulgaria when they previously hosted in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be aiming for a third-ever last-eight berth as tournament hosts. The South African side, coached by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, qualified for their initial finals since hosting, ending above Nigeria and Benin even after having a victory over Lesotho awarded against them for using an ineligible player.

It will mark Korea Republic's eleventh successive finals qualification. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished in third place in the Golden Ball award when South Korea reached the semi-final in 2002. He is now their manager and led them without a loss through a far from easy qualifying section. The final team in Group A will be the winner of a UEFA playoff involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

The Canadian team have made it for the global finals on two occasions and, although Qatar 2022 yielded their maiden goal, it did not deliver their first point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of probably the most talented squad in their nation's history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How favorable the draw looks hinges mostly on whether the Italian national team 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 group stage in four of the last five World Cups and were last-eight participants 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 feature at their fourth finals. Qatar, having ended up fourth in their third-round qualifying section, were given a major advantage by being chosen as a tournament host for the fourth round and secured qualification with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is selected entirely from the Qatari league.

Pool C

Scotland's first finals in 28 years looks a lot like their previous appearance, when they lost to Brazil and the Atlas Lions; Haiti take the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to make it to the knockout stage for the very first time after eight previous group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s sole prior World Cup, in 1974, was notable less for their three losses than for the ordeal 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 limited traveling support due to a travel ban from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third manager in a qualification process that included a run of three successive losses, but there is little jeopardy in South American qualifying these days. He has presided over a noticeable upturn in form. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the best of the north African nations, capable both of dominating rivals and playing on the counter-attack, qualifying with a perfect win record.

Pool D

Early last year, the USA seemed in a dismal 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 defeated Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will begin against Paraguay, who are competing in their 6th finals. They have secured one game at each of the prior five, a statistic that has resulted to both group phase eliminations and a last-eight place. Their trademark cautious mindset has not altered: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most fluent Australia side and their squad is without clear stars, but in spite of an shaky beginning 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 winner of the European Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

After successive group-stage eliminations, Die Mannschaft are no longer the feared force of old. The shift to a more attacking philosophy has introduced a fragility and the draw initially looked like posing a massive challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualifying, ending up second behind Argentina in South America. While they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a defence 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 as good 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 inspirational. Following an implausible continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, scoring 25 goals and conceding reply.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side maybe do not possess the galacticos of previous Dutch eras, but they qualified without losing and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, consistently appears a more reliable player with his country's side than at domestic level. They begin against the Japanese team, who will play in their eighth successive World Cup, and were by some way the most dominant of the Asian sides in qualifying, losing one of their 16 games across the two phases, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia secured of a third consecutive World Cup appearance by topping a straightforward qualifying group, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are perhaps not as defensive as some past Tunisian teams; they had a remarkable 14 different scorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the UEFA play-off (against Ukraine in the semi-final, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will create a rematch of the group stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Group G

Belgium and the Pharaohs are emerging from the legacy of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualification, finding 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 successful side in African history, but having not managed to reach the finals during their peak 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 defensive unit that conceded just twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified undefeated.

A reserved place for Oceania essentially equated to a spot at the finals for the All Whites, who cruised through qualifying, 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 difficult third-round qualifying section, are on a travel ban, potentially