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Group A

This opening game at the historic Azteca Stadium will mirror the opener from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's elimination stage record at the worldwide tournament features just one victory, secured against Bulgaria when they previously were hosts in 1986. Their manager, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that squad and will be aiming for a third-ever quarter-final appearance as tournament hosts. The South African side, coached by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial finals since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a win over Lesotho awarded against them for using an ineligible player.

This will mark Korea Republic's eleventh successive finals qualification. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished third in the Golden Ball award when South Korea reached the semi-final in 2002. Hong is now their manager and guided them unbeaten through a anything but straightforward qualifying section. The final side in Group A will be the victor 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 point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of arguably the best squad in their history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which favorable the draw looks hinges mostly on whether Italy make it through the European playoff (the other 3 contenders 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 last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket without defeat from probably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players aiming to feature at their fourth World Cups. Qatar, having ended up in fourth in their third phase qualifying section, were handed a major boost by being selected as a tournament host for the final phase and clinched qualification with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is selected exclusively from the domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland return to the World Cup in 28 years bears a lot like their last outing, when they were defeated to Brazil and the Atlas Lions; the Haitian team occupy the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the elimination phase for the first time after 8 previous group phase exits. Haiti’s only prior World Cup, 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 drugs test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have restricted traveling support due to a travel ban from the USA.

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

Pool D

At the start of last year, the United States seemed in a dismal state, 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 seemingly begun to get his message understood and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will start against the Paraguayan side, who are competing in their 6th World Cup. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has led to both group phase eliminations and a quarter-final place. Their trademark cautious approach hasn't altered: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most free-flowing Australian team and their roster is without clear superstars, but in spite of an iffy start to the third phase of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side made it by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their last two matches. The pool's final team will come from the victor of the European Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

After back-to-back group phase eliminations, Die Mannschaft 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 massive test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualification, ending up in second place behind Argentina in South America. While they scored 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 mere five.

Ivory Coast live in a state of constant pessimism, where nothing is ever as good as the golden squad 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 qualifying, scoring 25 goals and conceding reply.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe do not possess the galacticos of previous Dutch eras, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, consistently appears a more reliable player with his country's side than at domestic level. They begin against Japan, who will participate in their 8th consecutive World Cup, and were by far the most impressive of the Asian nations in qualifying, suffering one of their 16 games over the two phases, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side made sure of a third consecutive finals appearance by dominating a manageable qualification section, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as dour as some previous Tunisian teams; they had a staggering 14 separate scorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the UEFA playoff (against Ukraine in the semi-final, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will create a rematch of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

The Belgian Red Devils and Egypt are moving on from the legacy of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, scoring the net eight times but conceding 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 successful side in African football history, but having not managed to qualify during their peak period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite fulfilled their potential on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them attacking threat, but it was a defence that conceded just twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified unbeaten.

A reserved place for Oceania effectively meant a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who cruised through qualifying, 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 lost only once in a difficult third phase qualification group, are on a travel ban, possibly