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Group A

This opening game at the historic Azteca Stadium will mirror the first game from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with El Tri. The Mexican team's knockout stage history at the worldwide tournament features just a single win, secured against Bulgaria when they previously were hosts in 1986. Their coach, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that team and will be aiming for a third last-eight appearance as hosts. South Africa, led by veteran Belgian manager Hugo Broos, qualified for their initial World Cup since hosting, ending above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a win over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an suspended footballer.

It will mark South Korea's eleventh straight World Cup qualification. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came third in the Best Player award when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. He is now their manager and led them unbeaten through a far from straightforward qualification section. The fourth side in Group A will be the victor of a European playoff featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

Canada have made it for the global finals on two occasions and, although Qatar 2022 brought their first finals goal, it did not bring their first point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of arguably the best group of players 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 mostly on whether Italy make it through the European playoff (the other 3 teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have navigated the group stage in four of the last five tournaments and were quarter-finalists at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified unbeaten from probably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast individuals aiming to play at their fourth finals. Qatar, having finished in fourth in their third phase qualification group, were handed a significant advantage by being selected as a host for the final round and secured progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is drawn exclusively from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland first World Cup in 28 years looks a lot like their last outing, when they were defeated to Brazil and the Atlas Lions; Haiti occupy the spot of Norway. Their primary objective will be to make it to the elimination phase for the very first time after 8 prior group-stage exits. Haiti’s sole previous World Cup, in 1974, was notable less for their three losses than for the ordeal that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a doping test, was beaten 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 streak of three successive defeats, but there is little jeopardy in South American qualifying these days. He has overseen a clear improvement. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the strongest of the north African sides, able both of dominating rivals and playing on the counter-attack, securing qualification with a 100% record.

Group D

Early last year, the USA seemed in a dismal condition, losing 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 apparently begun to get his message across 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 6th finals. They have secured one game at each of the prior five, a record that has led to both group phase eliminations and a quarter-final appearance. Their trademark defensive mindset hasn't changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most free-flowing Australia team and their squad is without clear superstars, but despite 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 intense pressure in their final two fixtures. The pool's final team will emerge from the victor of Europe’s Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

Following successive group phase eliminations, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more attacking philosophy has introduced a fragility and the draw initially looked like posing a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the revelations of qualifying, finishing second behind Argentina in South America. While they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline featuring Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, protected by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, let in a mere five.

Côte d’Ivoire exist in a state of constant declinism, where nothing is ever as successful as the golden squad of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. After an implausible continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualifying, scoring 25 goals and conceding reply.

The tiniest country ever to qualify, Curaçao, were the final team drawn, however, making the group look a lot less daunting than it might have appeared.

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side perhaps do not possess the galacticos of previous Dutch generations, but they secured qualification unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualification, always looks a more reliable player with his national side than at domestic level. They begin against Japan, who will play in their 8th consecutive finals, and were by far the most impressive of the Asian sides in qualifying, losing one of their 16 games over the two groups, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side made sure of a third consecutive World Cup appearance by dominating a manageable qualification group, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as defensive as some past Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 separate goalscorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the European play-off (against Ukraine in the semi, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will set up a repeat of the group 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 shadow of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualification, finding the net eight times but conceding five in two wins over Wales, finding goals 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 failed to reach the finals during their peak 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 defensive unit that allowed just twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified unbeaten.

A reserved place for Oceania essentially equated to a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who cruised 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 were defeated only once in a difficult third-round qualifying group, are on a travel ban, possibly