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Group A

This initial fixture at the historic Azteca venue will echo the opener from 2010, when South Africa drew 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's elimination stage history at the worldwide showpiece includes just a single win, secured against Bulgaria when they last were hosts in 1986. Their coach, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that team and will be aiming for a third last-eight berth as hosts. South Africa, coached by veteran Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, qualified for their initial finals since they hosted, finishing above Nigeria and Benin even after having a victory over Lesotho awarded against them for using an suspended player.

This will represent South Korea's eleventh successive World Cup appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished third in the Golden Ball voting when South Korea made the last four in 2002. He is now their coach and led them unbeaten through a far from straightforward qualification section. The fourth team 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

Canada have qualified for the World Cup twice and, although Qatar 2022 yielded their first goal, it did not deliver their first-ever point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of arguably the most talented group of players in their history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How favorable the group looks depends largely on whether Italy progress through the UEFA play-off (the other 3 contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have navigated the group stage in four of the past five tournaments and were quarter-finalists at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified without defeat from arguably the most straightforward of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players hoping to feature at their fourth World Cups. Qatar, having finished fourth in their third phase qualifying group, were given a major advantage by being selected as a host for the fourth round and secured qualification with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected exclusively from the Qatari 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; Haiti take the place of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the elimination phase for the very first time after eight previous group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s sole previous World Cup, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats than for the ordeal that befell 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 away support due to a travel ban from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third coach in a qualifying campaign that featured a run of three successive losses, but there is minimal jeopardy in South American qualifying these days. He has presided over 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% win record.

Pool D

At the start of 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 last year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his message across and in November the USA beat Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will begin against Paraguay, who are playing in their sixth World Cup. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a record that has led to both group-stage exits and a quarter-final place. Their trademark cautious mindset hasn't altered: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most free-flowing Australian side and their roster is without obvious stars, but despite an iffy beginning to the third round of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side made it by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their final two fixtures. The pool's fourth team will emerge from the winner of Europe’s Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

Following successive group phase exits, Germany are no longer the feared force of old. The shift to a more progressive philosophy has brought a fragility and the draw initially looked like posing 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. While 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, let in a paltry five.

Côte d’Ivoire live in a state of permanent declinism, where nothing is ever as good as the glorious generation 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 improbable continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, scoring 25 goals without none.

The smallest country ever to reach the finals, the Curaçao team, were the fourth team drawn, however, making the group look a lot far less intimidating than it might have been.

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe lack the galacticos of previous Dutch generations, but they secured qualification without losing and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, always appears a more reliable player with his country's side than at domestic level. They begin against Japan, who will play in their 8th consecutive World Cup, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian nations in qualification, losing one of their 16 games over the two groups, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side secured of a third straight finals appearance by topping a manageable qualification section, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are perhaps not as dour as certain past Tunisian teams; they had a remarkable 14 separate scorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the UEFA playoff (against Ukraine in the semi, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will create a repeat of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Group G

Belgium and Egypt are moving on from the legacy of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, scoring the net eight times but conceding five in two wins over Wales, scoring 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 failed to qualify during their peak 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 defensive unit that conceded just twice in 10 games that meant they qualified undefeated.

A reserved place for Oceania essentially equated to a spot at the finals for the All Whites, 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. Iran, who were defeated once in a difficult third-round qualifying group, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly