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Pool A

The opening match at the iconic Azteca venue will replay the first game from 2010, when South Africa drew 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's knockout stage record at the worldwide tournament features just a single win, secured against Bulgaria when they last were hosts in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that squad and will be targeting a third-ever last-eight berth as hosts. South Africa, coached by veteran Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial finals since they hosted, ending above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a victory over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an suspended footballer.

This will represent Korea Republic's 11th successive World Cup appearance. Legend Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and finished third in the Golden Ball voting when South Korea made the semi-final in 2002. He is now their coach and guided them unbeaten through a anything but easy qualification group. The final team in Group A will be the winner of a European qualifying play-off involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

The Canadian team have qualified for the global finals twice and, while Qatar 2022 yielded their maiden goal, it did not bring their first-ever finals point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of probably the best squad in their history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How kind the draw appears depends largely on whether Italy progress through the UEFA play-off (the remaining three contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have navigated the initial phase in four of the last five tournaments and were last-eight participants at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket without defeat from arguably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast individuals aiming to feature at their fourth finals. Qatar, having finished fourth in their third phase qualifying group, were handed a significant advantage by being selected as a host for the fourth round and clinched progress with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is selected exclusively from the domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland's first finals in 28 years looks a lot like their previous outing, when they lost to Brazil and Morocco; Haiti occupy the spot of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the elimination stage for the first time after eight previous group-stage exits. Haiti’s only prior World Cup, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats 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 deported. They will have restricted away support due to travel restrictions from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third coach in a qualifying campaign that included a streak of three consecutive defeats, but there is minimal jeopardy in South American qualification these days. He has overseen a clear upturn in form. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the strongest of the north African nations, capable both of overwhelming rivals and playing on the counter, qualifying with a 100% record.

Pool D

Early last year, the United States seemed in a dismal state, losing to Panama and Canada in the Concacaf Nations League and to Turkey and Switzerland in friendly matches. But over the past year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his ideas understood and in November the USA beat Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will begin against Paraguay, who are playing in their sixth finals. They have secured one game at each of the prior five, a record that has led to both group phase exits and a last-eight place. Their familiar defensive approach has not changed: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australia team and their roster lacks clear stars, but in spite of an shaky start to the third round of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side made it by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their final 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 phase eliminations, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The shift to a more attacking philosophy has brought a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like presenting a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the revelations of qualification, finishing second behind Argentina in South America. Although they netted only 14 goals in 18 games, a defence featuring Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a mere five.

Côte d’Ivoire exist in a state of constant declinism, where nothing is ever as successful as the glorious generation of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Emerse Faé has proved transformative. Following an implausible continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, netting 25 goals without reply.

The smallest country ever to qualify, the Curaçao team, were the final team picked, however, making the group look a lot less intimidating than it might have been.

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side perhaps do not possess the star quality of past Dutch eras, but they secured qualification unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, always appears a more reliable performer with his country's side than at club level. They begin against Japan, who will participate in their eighth consecutive finals, and were by far the most dominant of the Asian nations in qualifying, suffering one of their 16 games over the two phases, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia made sure of a third straight finals appearance by dominating a straightforward qualification section, picking up 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are perhaps not as dour as some past Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 different goalscorers in qualifying. 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 stage 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 golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualification, finding the net eight times but letting in five in two wins over Wales, scoring freely at times, but also laboring to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most decorated 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 conceded only twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified undefeated.

A reserved place for Oceania effectively equated to 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 booked their place in North America next summer. Iran, who were defeated only once in a tricky third-round qualification group, are on a travel ban, potentially