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Group A

The opening game at the historic Azteca Stadium will mirror the first game from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's knockout stage history at the worldwide tournament 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 targeting a third quarter-final appearance as hosts. The South African side, led by veteran Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, qualified for their initial finals since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite having a win over Lesotho given against them for using an suspended player.

It will mark South Korea's 11th consecutive World Cup 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. He is now their manager and guided them unbeaten through a anything but straightforward qualifying section. The final side in Group A will be the winner of a European qualifying play-off featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

Canada have qualified for the World Cup twice and, while Qatar 2022 brought their first finals goal, it did not deliver their first-ever finals point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of arguably the most talented group of players in their nation's history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How favorable the draw appears depends largely on whether the Italian national team make it through the European play-off (the other 3 teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have got through the initial phase in four of the past five tournaments and were quarter-finalists at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified unbeaten from arguably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players hoping to play at their fourth World Cups. The Qatari team, having ended up in fourth in their third phase qualification section, were handed a significant advantage by being selected as a host for the fourth phase and clinched qualification with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is drawn entirely from the domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland 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 occupy the place of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the elimination phase for the very first time after 8 prior group-stage exits. Haiti’s only previous finals, 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 drugs test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have limited away support due to a travel ban from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third manager in a qualification campaign that included a streak of three successive losses, but there is minimal risk in South American qualifying these days. He has overseen a noticeable improvement. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the strongest of the north African sides, capable both of dominating rivals and playing on the counter, qualifying with a 100% win record.

Group D

At the start of 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 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 exhibition games. They will begin against the Paraguayan side, who are competing in their 6th World Cup. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has resulted to both group phase exits and a last-eight place. Their familiar defensive approach hasn't altered: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australia side and their squad lacks 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 intense pressure in their last two fixtures. The group’s final team will come from the winner of the European Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

After back-to-back group-stage exits, Germany are no longer the feared force of old. The transition to a more progressive style has introduced a fragility and the group initially looked like posing a massive challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualifying, ending up second 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 as good as the glorious squad of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. Following an implausible 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 final team picked, however, making the group look a lot far less intimidating than it might have been.

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side perhaps lack the star quality of previous Dutch eras, but they secured qualification without losing and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, always appears a more effective player with his country's side than at club level. They begin against the Japanese team, who will play in their 8th consecutive finals, and were by far the most dominant of the Asian nations in qualification, suffering one of their 16 games over the two groups, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side secured of a third straight finals berth by dominating a manageable qualifying group, picking up 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as defensive as certain past Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 separate scorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the UEFA play-off (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 performed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Group G

Belgium and the Pharaohs 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 conceding five in two wins over Wales, finding goals easily at times, but also laboring to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most decorated side in African history, but having failed to qualify during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully done themselves justice on the world stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defence that allowed only twice in 10 games that meant they qualified undefeated.

A guaranteed place for Oceania effectively meant a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who cruised through qualifying, 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 booked their place in North America next summer. Team Melli, who lost once in a difficult third-round qualification section, are on a travel ban, potentially