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Group A

The opening fixture at the iconic Azteca Stadium will echo the opener from 2010, when Bafana Bafana drew 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's knockout phase record at the worldwide showpiece includes just one victory, secured against Bulgaria when they last were hosts in 1986. Their coach, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that squad and will be aiming for a third last-eight appearance as tournament hosts. South Africa, led by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, qualified for their initial World Cup since they hosted, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a win over Lesotho given against them for fielding an suspended footballer.

This will represent South Korea's eleventh straight World Cup qualification. Icon Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and finished third in the Golden Ball award when South Korea made the last four in 2002. He is now their coach and led them unbeaten through a anything but straightforward qualification 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.

Group B

Canada have qualified for the global finals twice and, although Qatar 2022 yielded their maiden finals goal, it did not deliver their first-ever finals point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of arguably the best squad in their nation's history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which favorable the draw looks depends largely on whether the Italian national team progress through the UEFA playoff (the other 3 teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have got through the group stage in four of the past five tournaments and were quarter-finalists at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket without defeat from probably the most straightforward of the UEFA groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast individuals aiming to feature at their fourth World Cups. Qatar, having finished fourth in their third phase qualifying section, were given a significant boost by being chosen as a tournament host for the final phase and clinched progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is drawn exclusively from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland return to the World Cup in 28 years looks a lot like their previous outing, when they lost to the Seleção and the Atlas Lions; the Haitian team take the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the knockout stage for the very first time after eight prior group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s sole prior finals, in 1974, was notable less for their three losses than for the fate that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a doping test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have restricted traveling support due to travel restrictions from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third coach in a qualifying campaign that included a run of three successive losses, but there is minimal risk in South American qualification these days. He has overseen a noticeable upturn in form. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the best of the north African sides, capable both of overwhelming opponents and playing on the counter-attack, securing qualification with a 100% win record.

Group D

Early last year, the United States 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 last year, Mauricio Pochettino has apparently begun to get his message across and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will begin against the Paraguayan side, who are playing in their sixth finals. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a record that has resulted to both group-stage eliminations and a last-eight place. Their familiar defensive approach has not altered: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most free-flowing Australian team and their roster lacks clear superstars, but despite an shaky start to the third round of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their last two matches. The group’s final team will emerge from the winner of the European playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

After successive group phase eliminations, Germany are no longer the feared force of old. The shift to a more attacking style has brought a vulnerability and the group initially looked like presenting a massive challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualifying, finishing in second place behind Argentina in South America. While they netted only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline featuring Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, protected by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a paltry five.

Ivory Coast live in a state of permanent pessimism, where nothing is ever quite successful as the glorious squad of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Emerse Faé has proved transformative. After an improbable continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualifying, scoring 25 goals without reply.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe do not possess the star quality of past Dutch eras, but they qualified without losing and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, always appears a more reliable performer with his country's side than at club level. They open against the Japanese team, who will play in their 8th consecutive finals, and were by far the most impressive of the Asian nations in qualification, suffering one of their 16 games over the two groups, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side made sure of a third straight finals berth by topping a straightforward qualifying group, picking up 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are perhaps not as defensive as certain previous Tunisian teams; they had a staggering 14 separate goalscorers 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 stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first executed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

The Belgian Red Devils and Egypt are moving on from the shadow of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, scoring the net eight times but letting in five in two wins over Wales, finding goals freely at times, but also laboring to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most successful side in African history, but having failed to qualify during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully done themselves justice on the world stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them attacking threat, but it was a defensive unit that conceded only twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified unbeaten.

A guaranteed 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 qualifying section, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially