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Group A

This opening fixture at the famous Azteca venue will echo the first game from 2010, when South Africa drew 1-1 with Mexico. Mexico's elimination phase history at the global showpiece includes just one victory, secured against Bulgaria when they last were hosts in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that squad and will be targeting a third last-eight berth as tournament hosts. The South African side, led by experienced Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, qualified for their first finals since they hosted, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite having a victory over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an suspended footballer.

This will mark Korea Republic's eleventh consecutive World Cup appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and finished third in the Best Player award when South Korea made the last four in 2002. He is now their coach and guided them without a loss through a far from straightforward qualifying group. The final side in Group A will be the victor of a European playoff involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

Canada have made it for the global finals on two occasions and, while Qatar 2022 yielded their maiden finals goal, it did not deliver their first-ever point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of arguably the best group of players in their history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How kind the draw looks depends largely on whether Italy progress through the European play-off (the other three contenders 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 last-eight participants at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket without defeat from probably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players hoping to play at their fourth finals. Qatar, having ended up fourth in their third phase qualification section, were handed a significant boost by being selected as a host for the final phase and clinched progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is drawn exclusively from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland return to the World Cup in 28 years looks a lot like their last outing, when they lost to the Seleção and Morocco; the Haitian team occupy the spot of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the knockout phase for the first time after eight previous group-stage exits. Haiti’s only previous World Cup, in 1974, was notable less for their three losses than for the fate that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a drugs test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have limited away support due to travel restrictions from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third manager in a qualifying process that featured a run of three successive losses, but there is little risk in South American qualifying these days. He has overseen a clear improvement. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the strongest of the north African sides, capable both of overwhelming opponents and playing on the counter, qualifying with a 100% record.

Group D

At the start of last year, the USA seemed in a dismal state, losing 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 message across and in November the USA beat Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will begin against Paraguay, who are competing in their 6th World Cup. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a record that has resulted to both group-stage eliminations and a last-eight appearance. Their trademark cautious approach hasn't changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most free-flowing Australia side and their roster is without obvious superstars, but despite an shaky start to the third phase of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side made it by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their final two fixtures. The pool's final team will come from the winner of Europe’s Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following successive group phase eliminations, Germany are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more attacking philosophy has brought a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like posing a massive test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the surprise package of qualifying, finishing in second place behind Argentina in South America. Although 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, conceded a mere five.

Côte d’Ivoire exist in a state of constant pessimism, where nothing is ever as successful as the golden generation 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 qualification, netting 25 goals without none.

The smallest country ever to reach the finals, Curaçao, were the final team drawn, however, making the group look a lot less daunting than it might have been.

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side perhaps lack the star quality of previous Dutch generations, but they qualified without losing and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, consistently appears a more reliable player with his country's side than at domestic level. They open against Japan, who will participate in their 8th consecutive World Cup, and were by far the most impressive of the Asian nations in qualification, losing one of their 16 games across the two groups, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side made sure of a third consecutive finals appearance by topping a manageable qualifying group, picking up 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as defensive as certain previous Tunisian sides; they had a remarkable 14 separate goalscorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the European play-off (against Ukraine in the semi-final, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will set up a rematch of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first executed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

Belgium and the Pharaohs are emerging from the shadow 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, finding goals easily at times, but also struggling to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most successful side in African football history, but having failed 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 cutting edge, but it was a defensive unit 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 qualification, 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 secured their place in North America next summer. Iran, who lost once in a difficult third phase qualifying group, are on a travel ban, possibly