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Pool A

The first fixture at the historic Azteca Stadium will mirror the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's knockout stage history at the global tournament features just a single win, secured against Bulgaria when they previously hosted in 1986. Their coach, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that squad and will be targeting a third-ever last-eight berth as tournament hosts. South Africa, led by veteran Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial World Cup since they hosted, ending above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a victory over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an ineligible footballer.

It will represent Korea Republic's 11th straight finals appearance. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came third 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 straightforward qualification section. The fourth 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 global finals twice and, while Qatar 2022 brought their maiden goal, it did not bring their first-ever finals point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of arguably the most talented group of players in their history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which kind the draw appears depends largely on whether the Italian national team make it through the European playoff (the remaining 3 teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following 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 last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified unbeaten from probably the most straightforward of the UEFA groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast individuals hoping to feature at their fourth finals. Qatar, having finished in fourth in their third phase qualifying group, were handed a major advantage by being chosen as a host for the final phase and secured progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is selected exclusively from the Qatari league.

Pool C

Scotland's first World Cup in 28 years looks a lot like their last outing, when they lost to Brazil and the Atlas Lions; the Haitian team take the spot of Norway. Their primary objective will be to make it to the elimination stage for the first time after 8 previous group-stage exits. Haiti’s sole previous World Cup, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats than for the fate that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a drugs test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have limited traveling support due to a travel ban involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third coach in a qualifying campaign that included a streak of three successive defeats, but there is minimal jeopardy in South American qualification these days. He has overseen a clear improvement. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the strongest of the north African sides, capable both of dominating opponents and playing on the counter-attack, qualifying with a perfect win record.

Group D

Early last year, the United States seemed in a dismal 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 apparently begun to get his ideas understood and in November the USA beat Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will start against the Paraguayan side, who are competing in their sixth World Cup. They have won one game at each of the prior five, a statistic that has resulted to both group phase eliminations 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 fluent Australia side and their squad is without clear stars, but despite an iffy start to the third round of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side made it by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their last two matches. The pool's fourth team will emerge from the winner of the European Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool 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 brought a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like posing a huge test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualification, finishing second behind Argentina in South America. While they netted only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline featuring Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a paltry five.

Ivory Coast live in a state of permanent pessimism, where nothing is ever as successful as the golden 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 success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, netting 25 goals and conceding none.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side maybe lack the star quality of previous Dutch generations, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualification, always appears a more effective performer with his country's side than at club level. They open against Japan, who will play in their 8th successive World Cup, and were by far the most impressive of the Asian sides in qualifying, suffering one of their 16 games over the two phases, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side made sure of a third consecutive finals berth by topping a manageable qualification section, picking up 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are maybe not as defensive as certain past Tunisian teams; they had a staggering 14 separate scorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the UEFA play-off (against Ukraine in the semi, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will create a repeat of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first executed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

Belgium and Egypt are emerging from the shadow of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualification, scoring 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 decorated side in African football history, but having not managed to qualify during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully fulfilled their potential on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them attacking threat, but it was a defensive unit that conceded just twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified unbeaten.

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