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Group A

This opening game at the historic Azteca Stadium will mirror the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana drew 1-1 with Mexico. The Mexican team's elimination stage record at the global showpiece includes just a single victory, secured against Bulgaria when they previously hosted in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that squad and will be targeting a third last-eight appearance as tournament hosts. South Africa, coached by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first finals since they hosted, ending above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a victory over Lesotho given against them for using an ineligible player.

It will represent South Korea's 11th consecutive World Cup qualification. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished in third place in the Golden Ball award when South Korea made the semi-final in 2002. He is now their coach and guided them without a loss through a anything but straightforward qualifying section. The final team in Group A will be the victor of a UEFA playoff involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

The Canadian team have qualified for the global finals on two occasions and, although Qatar 2022 yielded their first goal, it did not bring their first-ever point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of probably the best group of players in their history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which favorable the draw appears depends largely on whether Italy make it through the European play-off (the remaining three 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 past five World Cups and were last-eight participants at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket without defeat from arguably the most straightforward of the UEFA groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players hoping to feature at their fourth finals. Qatar, having ended up in fourth in their third phase qualification group, were given a major boost by being chosen as a host for the final round and secured progress with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is drawn exclusively from the domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland return to the World Cup in 28 years bears a lot like their previous outing, when they were defeated to Brazil and the Atlas Lions; the Haitian team take the spot of Norway. Their primary objective will be to make it to the knockout phase for the very first time after 8 prior group phase exits. Haiti’s only prior finals, in 1974, was notable less for their three defeats than for the ordeal that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a doping test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have restricted traveling support due to travel restrictions involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third coach in a qualifying campaign that included a streak of three successive defeats, but there is minimal jeopardy in South American qualification these days. He has presided over a noticeable upturn in form. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the best of the north African nations, capable both of dominating opponents and playing on the counter, securing qualification with a 100% win record.

Pool D

Early 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 friendly matches. But over the last year, Mauricio Pochettino has apparently begun to get his ideas across and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will begin against Paraguay, who are playing in their sixth finals. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a record that has led to both group phase exits and a quarter-final place. Their familiar cautious mindset hasn't altered: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australian team and their roster is without clear stars, but in spite of an iffy start to the third round of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side made it by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their last 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

After back-to-back group-stage exits, Die Mannschaft are no longer the feared force of old. The shift to a more progressive philosophy has brought a vulnerability and the group initially looked like presenting a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the surprise package of qualification, ending up second behind Argentina in South America. While they netted only 14 goals in 18 games, a defence featuring Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, let in a paltry five.

Côte d’Ivoire exist in a state of permanent pessimism, where nothing is ever as successful 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. Following an implausible continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, netting 25 goals without none.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe lack the star quality of past Dutch generations, but they secured qualification unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, consistently appears a more effective player with his national side than at domestic level. They open against the Japanese team, who will play in their eighth consecutive World Cup, and were by far the most dominant of the Asian sides in qualifying, losing one of their 16 games across the two groups, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side secured of a third consecutive finals appearance by topping a manageable qualifying section, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as defensive as some previous Tunisian teams; they had a staggering 14 separate scorers in qualifying. 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 set up a repeat of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first executed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Group G

Belgium and the Pharaohs are moving on from the legacy of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, finding the net eight times but conceding five in two wins over Wales, scoring freely at times, but also laboring to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most successful side in African football history, but having not managed to reach the finals during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully fulfilled their potential on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defensive unit that allowed only twice in 10 games that meant they qualified undefeated.

A guaranteed place for Oceania essentially equated to a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who sailed through qualifying, winning five games out of five, scoring 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 once in a difficult third-round qualification group, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially