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Group A

This first game at the iconic Azteca venue will replay the opener from 2010, when South Africa drew 1-1 with Mexico. The Mexican team's elimination stage record at the global showpiece includes just one win, achieved against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. Their manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be targeting a third last-eight berth as tournament hosts. South Africa, coached by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial finals since hosting, ending above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a win over Lesotho given against them for fielding an suspended player.

This will mark South Korea's eleventh straight finals appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and came third in the Golden Ball award when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. Hong is now their coach and guided them unbeaten through a far from straightforward qualification group. The final team in Group A will be the victor of a UEFA qualifying play-off featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

Canada have made it for the global finals on two occasions and, while Qatar 2022 yielded their maiden goal, it did not bring their first-ever point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of arguably the best group of players in their history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How favorable the draw appears depends largely on whether Italy make it through the UEFA play-off (the other 3 teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have navigated the initial phase in four of the last five tournaments and were quarter-finalists at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified unbeaten from probably the easiest of the UEFA groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players aiming to play at their fourth finals. The Qatari team, having finished fourth in their third-round qualification section, were handed a major advantage by being selected as a host for the final round and secured progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is selected entirely from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland's first finals in 28 years bears a lot like their previous outing, when they were defeated to Brazil and Morocco; the Haitian team occupy the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to make it to the elimination stage for the first time after eight previous group-stage exits. Haiti’s sole previous finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats than for the fate that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a drugs test, was assaulted 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 coach in a qualifying process that included a run of three successive losses, but there is minimal jeopardy in South American qualification these days. He has overseen a clear upturn in form. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the best of the north African nations, able both of overwhelming opponents and playing on the counter-attack, qualifying with a 100% record.

Pool D

At the start of last year, the United States seemed in a dismal condition, losing to Panama and Canada in the Concacaf Nations League and to Turkey and Switzerland in friendly matches. But over the last year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his ideas across and in November the USA beat Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will start against the Paraguayan side, who are playing in their sixth finals. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has resulted to both group phase exits and a last-eight place. Their trademark defensive approach has not changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australian team and their roster is without obvious stars, but in spite of an shaky beginning 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 fixtures. The pool's final team will come from the winner of Europe’s playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

After successive group phase eliminations, Die Mannschaft are no longer the feared force of old. The shift to a more attacking style has introduced a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like presenting a massive test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualifying, ending up in second place behind Argentina in South America. Although they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a defence featuring Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, protected by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, let in a paltry five.

Ivory Coast live in a state of permanent pessimism, where nothing is ever quite good as the glorious squad of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. After an implausible continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualifying, scoring 25 goals and conceding reply.

The tiniest country ever to qualify, the Curaçao team, were the fourth team drawn, however, making the group look a lot far less daunting than it could have been.

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side perhaps do not possess 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 reliable player with his national side than at club level. They begin against the Japanese team, who will play in their 8th successive finals, and were by some way the most dominant of the Asian sides in qualification, suffering one of their 16 games across the two phases, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia made sure of a third consecutive World Cup berth by dominating a straightforward qualification section, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as dour as certain previous Tunisian teams; they had a remarkable 14 separate goalscorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the European 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 performed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

Belgium and the Pharaohs are emerging from the legacy of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, finding the net eight times but letting in 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 decorated side in African football history, but having failed to reach the finals during their peak period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully fulfilled their potential on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them attacking threat, but it was a defensive unit that allowed just twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified undefeated.

A guaranteed place for Oceania essentially 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 booked their place in North America next summer. Team Melli, who were defeated only once in a difficult third-round qualifying group, are on a travel ban, potentially