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Pool A

This first fixture at the historic Azteca venue will mirror the opener from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with El Tri. The Mexican team's elimination phase record at the worldwide showpiece includes just a single victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they last were hosts in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that squad and will be aiming for a third-ever quarter-final berth as hosts. South Africa, coached by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial World Cup since hosting, ending above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a win over Lesotho given against them for using an ineligible footballer.

It will mark South Korea's 11th consecutive finals qualification. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came third in the Best Player award when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. He is now their manager and guided them without a loss through a far from easy qualification group. The final team in Group A will be the victor of a European playoff involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

Canada have qualified for the global finals twice and, while Qatar 2022 brought their first finals goal, it did not bring their first point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of arguably the most talented group of players in their nation's history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How kind the draw looks depends mostly on whether the Italian national team make it through the European playoff (the other three contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have navigated the group stage in four of the past five World Cups 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 groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players aiming to feature at their fourth World Cups. Qatar, having ended up fourth in their third phase qualifying group, were handed a significant boost by being chosen as a host for the fourth phase and secured qualification with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected entirely from the Qatari league.

Pool C

Scotland's first World Cup in 28 years bears a lot like their previous appearance, when they lost to the Seleção and the Atlas Lions; Haiti occupy the spot of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the elimination phase for the first time after eight prior group phase eliminations. Haiti’s only previous World Cup, in 1974, was notable less for their three losses than for the fate that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a doping test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have restricted traveling support due to travel restrictions from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third manager in a qualifying process that included a streak of three successive defeats, but there is little risk in South American qualifying these days. He has presided over a clear upturn in form. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the strongest of the north African nations, able both of overwhelming opponents and playing on the counter, securing qualification with a 100% win record.

Group D

At the start of last year, the USA seemed in a dismal condition, suffering defeats to Panama and Canada in the Concacaf Nations League and to Turkey and Switzerland in friendlies. But over the past year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his ideas across and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will begin against the Paraguayan side, who are playing in their sixth World Cup. They have secured one game at each of the prior five, a record that has resulted to both group-stage exits and a last-eight appearance. Their trademark defensive mindset has not altered: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most free-flowing Australia team and their squad is without clear superstars, but in spite of an shaky start to the third round 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 group’s final team will emerge from the victor of Europe’s Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

After successive group-stage exits, Germany are no longer the feared force of old. The shift to a more attacking philosophy has brought a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like presenting a massive challenge 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, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, let in a mere five.

Ivory Coast exist in a state of constant declinism, where nothing is ever as good as the golden generation of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control 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 and conceding reply.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side perhaps do not possess the star quality of previous Dutch eras, but they secured qualification unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, consistently looks a more reliable player with his country's side than at domestic level. They open against Japan, who will play in their eighth consecutive finals, and were by some way the most dominant of the Asian sides in qualification, suffering one of their 16 games over the two phases, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia secured of a third straight World Cup berth by topping a straightforward qualification section, picking up 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as dour as certain previous Tunisian teams; they had a remarkable 14 different goalscorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the UEFA play-off (against Ukraine in the semi, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will set up a rematch of the group stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first executed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

Belgium and Egypt are emerging from the legacy of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualifying, scoring the net eight times but conceding five in two wins over Wales, scoring 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 done themselves justice 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 the All Whites, who sailed through qualification, winning five games out of five, scoring 29 goals, nine of them by Chris Wood, but they are the lowest-ranked side to have secured their place in North America next summer. Iran, who were defeated only once in a difficult third-round qualifying group, are on a travel ban, possibly