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Group A

This initial game at the famous Azteca venue will echo the opener from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's knockout phase history at the global showpiece features just a single victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they previously hosted in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that team and will be targeting a third last-eight berth as hosts. The South African side, coached by veteran Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first finals since they hosted, ending above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a win over Lesotho awarded against them for using an ineligible player.

This will represent Korea Republic's eleventh successive finals appearance. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came in third place in the Golden Ball voting when South Korea made the semi-final in 2002. He is now their manager and led them without a loss through a far from easy qualifying section. The fourth side in Group A will be the victor of a European qualifying play-off featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

The Canadian team have made it for the global finals on two occasions and, while Qatar 2022 brought their maiden finals goal, it did not bring their first point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of arguably the most talented squad in their nation's history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which favorable the group appears depends mostly on whether the Italian national team progress through the European play-off (the other three teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have got through the initial phase in four of the last five tournaments and were quarter-finalists at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified without defeat from arguably the easiest of the UEFA groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players aiming to feature at their fourth finals. The Qatari team, having ended up in fourth in their third phase qualifying section, were handed a major advantage by being chosen as a tournament host for the fourth round and secured qualification with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected exclusively from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland return to the World Cup in 28 years bears a lot like their previous appearance, when they lost to Brazil and Morocco; Haiti take the spot of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the knockout stage for the first time after eight prior group-stage exits. Haiti’s sole prior World Cup, in 1974, was notable less for their three defeats than for the fate that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a drugs test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have limited away support due to a travel ban from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third manager in a qualification campaign that included a run of three successive defeats, but there is minimal jeopardy in South American qualification these days. He has overseen a clear improvement. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the best of the north African nations, able both of dominating rivals and playing on the counter, qualifying with a 100% record.

Group D

Early last year, the USA seemed in a poor state, suffering defeats 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 message 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 6th finals. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has resulted to both group-stage exits and a last-eight appearance. Their familiar defensive mindset has not altered: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most fluent Australian team and their squad lacks 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 immense pressure in their final two matches. The pool's final team will emerge from the winner of Europe’s playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following back-to-back group phase eliminations, Die Mannschaft are no longer the feared force of old. The transition to a more progressive style has brought a vulnerability and the group initially looked like posing a massive challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualification, finishing second 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, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a mere five.

Côte d’Ivoire exist in a state of constant declinism, where nothing is ever quite good as the golden generation of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. Following an improbable continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, netting 25 goals without none.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe lack the galacticos of past Dutch eras, but they qualified without losing and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualification, consistently looks a more effective player with his country's side than at domestic level. They begin against the Japanese team, who will participate in their eighth successive finals, and were by far the most dominant of the Asian nations in qualification, suffering one of their 16 games over the two groups, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia secured of a third consecutive World Cup appearance by dominating a straightforward qualification section, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as dour as some past Tunisian teams; they had a remarkable 14 separate scorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress 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 stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first executed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

The Belgian Red Devils and the Pharaohs are emerging from the shadow of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualification, finding the net eight times but letting in five in two wins over Wales, finding goals freely at times, but also struggling to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

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

A reserved place for Oceania essentially meant a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who sailed 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 lost once in a tricky third phase qualification section, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly