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Group A

This opening game at the famous Azteca venue will replay the opener from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with Mexico. Mexico's elimination stage record at the worldwide tournament includes just one win, secured against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. Their manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that squad and will be targeting a third quarter-final appearance as hosts. South Africa, led by veteran Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial finals since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a victory over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an suspended footballer.

This will mark Korea Republic's 11th successive finals appearance. Legend Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and finished third in the Best Player award when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. Hong is now their coach and guided them unbeaten through a anything but straightforward qualifying section. The fourth 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, while Qatar 2022 brought their first finals goal, it did not bring their first point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of probably the best 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 mostly on whether Italy make it through the UEFA play-off (the other three contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have navigated the group stage in four of the past five World Cups and were quarter-finalists at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket without defeat from arguably the easiest of the UEFA groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players hoping to play at their fourth World Cups. The Qatari team, having finished fourth in their third phase qualification group, were given a major boost by being selected as a host for the final round and clinched progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected exclusively from the Qatari league.

Group C

Scotland return to the World Cup in 28 years looks a lot like their previous appearance, when they lost to Brazil and Morocco; Haiti take the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the elimination stage for the very first time after 8 previous group phase exits. Haiti’s only previous World Cup, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats than for the ordeal that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a doping test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being deported. 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 consecutive defeats, but there is minimal risk in South American qualifying these days. He has presided over a clear upturn in form. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the strongest of the north African nations, capable both of dominating rivals and playing on the counter-attack, securing qualification with a 100% win record.

Group D

Early last year, the United States seemed in a poor condition, losing to Panama and Canada in the Concacaf Nations League and to Turkey and Switzerland in friendlies. But over the past year, Mauricio Pochettino has apparently begun to get his ideas understood and in November the USA beat Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will start against the Paraguayan side, who are playing in their sixth finals. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has resulted to both group phase exits and a quarter-final place. Their trademark defensive approach has not changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most free-flowing Australian side and their squad is without obvious stars, but in spite of an shaky beginning to the third round of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their final two fixtures. The group’s final team will come from the victor of the European playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following back-to-back group phase eliminations, Die Mannschaft are no longer the feared force of old. The transition to a more attacking style has brought a vulnerability and the group initially looked like presenting a massive challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualifying, finishing second behind Argentina in South America. While they scored 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 paltry five.

Côte d’Ivoire exist in a state of permanent pessimism, where nothing is ever quite good as the glorious squad of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Emerse Faé has proved transformative. After an implausible continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualification, netting 25 goals without reply.

The smallest country ever to reach the finals, Curaçao, were the fourth team picked, though, making the group look a lot less intimidating than it might have been.

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side perhaps do not possess the star quality of previous Dutch generations, but they secured qualification without losing and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualification, always appears a more reliable player with his national side than at club level. They begin against the Japanese team, who will participate in their eighth consecutive World Cup, and were by far the most dominant of the Asian nations in qualifying, suffering one of their 16 games over the two groups, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia made sure of a third consecutive World Cup appearance by dominating a straightforward qualifying group, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are maybe not as dour as some previous Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 different scorers 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 rematch of the group stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first executed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Group G

Belgium and Egypt are moving on from the shadow of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualification, finding the net eight times but conceding five in two wins over Wales, scoring freely 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 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 defensive unit that allowed only twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified undefeated.

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 FIFA-ranked side to have booked their place in North America next summer. Team Melli, who were defeated only once in a difficult third-round qualifying section, are on a travel ban, potentially