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Group A

The opening fixture at the famous Azteca Stadium will echo the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with Mexico. The Mexican team's knockout stage history at the global showpiece features just one victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they previously were hosts in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that team and will be targeting a third-ever last-eight appearance as tournament hosts. The South African side, led by experienced Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, qualified for their initial finals since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin even after having a win over Lesotho given against them for fielding an suspended player.

This will mark Korea Republic's eleventh successive finals qualification. Icon Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and finished third in the Best Player voting when South Korea made the last four in 2002. Hong is now their coach and guided them unbeaten through a anything but easy qualifying group. The fourth side in Group A will be the victor of a European playoff 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, although Qatar 2022 yielded their maiden 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 key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which kind the draw appears hinges mostly on whether Italy progress through the European playoff (the remaining 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 booked their ticket unbeaten from arguably the most straightforward of the UEFA groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast individuals hoping to play at their fourth World Cups. The Qatari team, having finished in fourth in their third-round qualification group, were given a major advantage by being selected as a tournament host for the fourth round and clinched qualification with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is drawn exclusively from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland's return to the World Cup in 28 years looks a lot like their previous outing, when they lost to the Seleção and the Atlas Lions; Haiti take the spot of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the knockout phase for the first time after 8 previous group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s only prior finals, in 1974, was notable less for their three losses than for the ordeal that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a drugs test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have restricted traveling support due to a travel ban involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third coach in a qualification process that included a streak of three consecutive defeats, but there is minimal jeopardy in South American qualifying these days. He has presided over a noticeable upturn in form. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the best of the north African nations, able both of overwhelming opponents and playing on the counter, securing qualification with a 100% record.

Group D

Early last year, the USA seemed in a poor 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 ideas understood and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will begin against Paraguay, who are competing in their sixth finals. They have won one game at each of the prior five, a statistic that has resulted to both group phase eliminations and a last-eight appearance. Their trademark cautious mindset has not altered: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most free-flowing Australian team and their squad is without clear stars, but despite an shaky beginning to the third phase 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 matches. The pool's fourth team will emerge from the winner of Europe’s Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following successive group-stage exits, Germany are no longer the feared force of old. The transition to a more progressive style has brought a fragility and the group initially looked like presenting a massive test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the revelations of qualifying, ending up in second place behind Argentina in South America. While they scored 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.

Ivory Coast exist in a state of permanent declinism, where nothing is ever as successful as the glorious generation of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. Following an improbable continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualifying, scoring 25 goals without none.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side perhaps lack the star quality of previous Dutch eras, but they qualified without losing and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, consistently appears 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 World Cup, and were by some way the most dominant of the Asian nations in qualifying, losing one of their 16 games over the two groups, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia made sure of a third consecutive World Cup appearance by topping a manageable qualification group, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as dour as some past Tunisian teams; they had a remarkable 14 separate goalscorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress 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

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

Egypt are the most successful side in African football 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 allowed just twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified undefeated.

A guaranteed place for Oceania effectively equated to 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 secured their place in North America next summer. Team Melli, who were defeated once in a tricky third-round qualifying group, are on a travel ban, potentially