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Pool A

The first game at the iconic Azteca venue will echo the opener from 2010, when South Africa drew 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's elimination phase history at the global tournament includes just a single win, achieved against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be aiming for a third-ever quarter-final appearance as hosts. The South African side, led by veteran Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, qualified for their first finals since they hosted, ending above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a victory over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an suspended player.

It will mark South Korea's 11th straight World Cup qualification. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished in third place in the Golden Ball award when South Korea made the semi-final in 2002. Hong is now their coach and guided them unbeaten through a anything but straightforward qualification section. The final team in Group A will be the winner of a UEFA playoff featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

Canada have qualified for the World Cup on two occasions and, while Qatar 2022 brought their first goal, it did not deliver their first-ever point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of probably the best squad in their history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How favorable the draw looks depends largely on whether Italy progress through the UEFA playoff (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 past five tournaments and were last-eight participants at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket unbeaten from arguably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have individuals aiming to play at their fourth World Cups. The Qatari team, having finished in fourth in their third phase qualifying section, were given a major advantage by being chosen as a host for the fourth round and secured progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is selected exclusively from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland's return to the World Cup in 28 years looks a lot like their last outing, when they were defeated to the Seleção and Morocco; Haiti occupy the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the elimination stage for the very first time after 8 previous group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s sole previous finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three losses than for the fate that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a doping test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have limited away support due to travel restrictions involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third manager in a qualification process that included a run of three successive defeats, but there is little risk in South American qualification these days. He has overseen a noticeable upturn in form. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the best of the north African sides, capable both of dominating rivals and playing on the counter-attack, qualifying with a perfect win record.

Pool D

At the start of last year, the United States seemed in a poor 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 defeated Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will begin against Paraguay, who are competing in their sixth World Cup. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a record that has resulted to both group phase eliminations and a last-eight appearance. Their familiar cautious approach hasn't changed: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australian side and their roster lacks obvious superstars, 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 fixtures. The group’s fourth team will emerge from the victor of Europe’s Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

Following back-to-back group phase exits, Germany are no longer the feared force of old. The transition to a more progressive philosophy has introduced a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like posing a massive challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualification, ending up 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, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a mere five.

Côte d’Ivoire live in a state of permanent declinism, where nothing is ever as good as the golden squad of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. Following an implausible continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualification, netting 25 goals without none.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side perhaps lack the galacticos of past Dutch generations, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualification, consistently appears a more reliable player with his national side than at club level. They open against the Japanese team, who will participate in their eighth successive World Cup, and were by far the most dominant of the Asian nations in qualifying, losing one of their 16 games over the two phases, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side secured of a third straight World Cup berth by topping a manageable qualifying group, picking up 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as defensive as certain previous Tunisian sides; they had a remarkable 14 different goalscorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the UEFA play-off (against Ukraine in the semi-final, 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 iconic Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

The Belgian Red Devils and Egypt are moving on from the shadow of golden 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 laboring to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most decorated side in African football history, but having failed to reach the finals during their peak period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite done themselves justice on the world stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defensive unit that conceded only twice in 10 games that meant they qualified undefeated.

A guaranteed place for Oceania effectively equated to a spot at the finals for the All Whites, 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 tricky third-round qualifying section, are on a travel ban, potentially