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Pool A

The first match at the historic Azteca Stadium will replay the opener from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with Mexico. The Mexican team's elimination phase record at the global showpiece includes just a single victory, secured against Bulgaria when they previously were hosts in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that team and will be aiming for a third last-eight appearance as tournament hosts. South Africa, coached by veteran Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial World Cup since they hosted, finishing above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a victory over Lesotho awarded against them for using an ineligible footballer.

It will represent Korea Republic's eleventh successive finals qualification. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came in third place in the Best Player voting when South Korea made the last four in 2002. He is now their manager and led them unbeaten through a far from straightforward qualifying section. The final team in Group A will be the victor of a UEFA playoff featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

Canada have made it for the global finals on two occasions and, although Qatar 2022 brought their first goal, it did not bring their first-ever point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of probably the best squad in their history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How favorable the group looks hinges mostly on whether Italy make it through the UEFA play-off (the other three contenders 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 past five tournaments and were last-eight participants at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified without defeat from probably the most straightforward of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have individuals aiming to feature at their fourth World Cups. The Qatari team, having finished in fourth in their third phase qualification section, were given a major advantage by being chosen as a tournament host for the final round and clinched progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected entirely from the domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland's first World Cup in 28 years looks a lot like their previous outing, when they were defeated to Brazil and the Atlas Lions; Haiti take the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the knockout stage for the first time after 8 previous group phase eliminations. Haiti’s sole prior World Cup, in 1974, was notable less for their three defeats than for the fate that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a doping test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have limited away support due to travel restrictions from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third coach in a qualification process that included a streak of three successive defeats, but there is little jeopardy in South American qualification these days. He has overseen a noticeable improvement. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the strongest of the north African sides, capable both of dominating rivals and playing on the counter-attack, securing qualification with a 100% win record.

Pool D

Early last year, the United States seemed in a dismal state, losing 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 message across and in November the USA beat Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will start against Paraguay, who are playing in their 6th finals. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a record that has resulted to both group-stage eliminations and a quarter-final place. Their familiar defensive mindset has not altered: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most free-flowing Australia side and their roster is without obvious stars, but despite 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 last two fixtures. The pool's fourth team will come from the victor of the European Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

Following successive group-stage exits, Die Mannschaft are no longer the feared force of old. The transition to a more progressive philosophy has brought a vulnerability and the group initially looked like posing a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualifying, finishing in second place behind Argentina in South America. While they netted only 14 goals in 18 games, a defence including Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, protected by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, let in a paltry five.

Ivory Coast exist in a state of constant 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, manager Emerse Faé has proved transformative. Following an implausible continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, netting 25 goals without none.

The smallest country ever to reach the finals, the Curaçao team, were the final team picked, though, making the group look a lot less daunting than it could 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, always appears a more effective player with his national side than at club level. They begin against Japan, who will play in their 8th consecutive World Cup, and were by far the most dominant of the Asian nations in qualifying, suffering one of their 16 games over the two phases, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia made sure of a third straight World Cup appearance by dominating a manageable qualification section, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are perhaps not as defensive 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-final, 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 performed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Group G

The Belgian Red Devils and the Pharaohs are moving on from the shadow of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualification, scoring 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 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 only twice in 10 games that meant they qualified undefeated.

A reserved place for Oceania effectively equated to a spot at the finals for the All Whites, who cruised through qualifying, winning five games out of five, scoring 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. Team Melli, who lost only once in a tricky third phase qualification section, are on a travel ban, possibly