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Group A

This initial fixture at the historic Azteca venue will echo the opener from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with Mexico. The Mexican team's elimination stage history at the worldwide tournament features just a single win, achieved against Bulgaria when they last were hosts in 1986. Their manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that squad and will be aiming for a third-ever quarter-final berth as tournament hosts. South Africa, coached by veteran Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, qualified for their initial World Cup since hosting, ending above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a win over Lesotho given against them for using an suspended player.

It will mark South Korea's 11th successive finals qualification. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished in third place in the Golden Ball award when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. Hong is now their manager and led them unbeaten through a far from easy qualifying section. The final side 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.

Group B

The Canadian team have made it for the World Cup twice and, although Qatar 2022 brought their maiden goal, it did not bring their first-ever point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of arguably the best squad in their history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How favorable the draw looks hinges largely on whether Italy make it 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, the Swiss have navigated the initial phase in four of the past five tournaments and were quarter-finalists at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified unbeaten from arguably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players aiming to play at their fourth World Cups. Qatar, having ended up fourth in their third phase qualification group, were handed a significant boost by being selected as a host for the fourth round and secured qualification with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is selected entirely from the Qatari league.

Group C

Scotland first World Cup in 28 years bears a lot like their previous outing, when they were defeated to the Seleção and Morocco; the Haitian team take the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the knockout phase for the very first time after eight previous group phase eliminations. Haiti’s only previous World Cup, in 1974, was notable less for their three losses than for the fate that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a drugs test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have limited traveling support due to a travel ban from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third coach in a qualifying process that featured a streak of three successive losses, but there is little risk in South American qualifying these days. He has overseen a noticeable improvement. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the strongest of the north African nations, capable both of overwhelming rivals and playing on the counter, qualifying with a 100% record.

Pool D

At the start of 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 message across and in November the USA beat Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will begin against the Paraguayan side, who are competing in their sixth finals. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a record that has led to both group phase eliminations and a quarter-final appearance. Their trademark defensive approach hasn't altered: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most fluent Australian team and their squad is without obvious superstars, but in spite of an iffy start to the third phase of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their last two matches. The pool's fourth team will come from the victor of the European Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following successive group-stage exits, Germany are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more attacking philosophy has introduced a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like posing a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the surprise package of qualifying, ending up in second place behind Argentina in South America. Although they netted only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline including Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, protected by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a paltry five.

Ivory Coast live in a state of permanent pessimism, 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 improbable continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualifying, 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 far less daunting than it could have appeared.

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side perhaps do not possess the galacticos of previous Dutch generations, but they secured qualification unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, consistently appears a more reliable player with his national side than at club level. They open against Japan, who will play in their eighth consecutive finals, and were by far the most dominant of the Asian nations in qualifying, losing one of their 16 games across the two groups, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia made sure of a third consecutive World Cup berth by topping a straightforward qualifying group, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as dour as certain previous Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 separate goalscorers in qualifying. 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 create a rematch 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 moving on from the shadow of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, scoring the net eight times but letting in five in two wins over Wales, finding goals 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 qualify during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite fulfilled their potential on the world stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defence that conceded just 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 sailed through qualification, winning five games out of five, netting 29 goals, nine of them by Chris Wood, but they are the lowest-ranked side to have booked their place in North America next summer. Team Melli, who lost once in a difficult third phase qualifying group, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially