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Group A

This initial game at the iconic Azteca Stadium will replay the opener from 2010, when Bafana Bafana drew 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's elimination stage history at the worldwide showpiece features just a single win, achieved against Bulgaria when they previously were hosts in 1986. Their manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be aiming for a third last-eight appearance as tournament hosts. South Africa, coached by veteran Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, qualified for their first finals since they hosted, ending above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a win over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an ineligible footballer.

This will represent South Korea's eleventh straight finals qualification. Legend Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and came third in the Best Player voting when South Korea made the last four in 2002. He is now their manager and guided them unbeaten through a anything but easy qualification group. The fourth team in Group A will be the winner of a UEFA playoff involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

Canada have made it for the global finals on two occasions and, while Qatar 2022 yielded their first goal, it did not deliver their first point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of probably the most talented group of players in their nation's history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which favorable the group looks hinges largely on whether the Italian national team progress through the European playoff (the other three 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 last five tournaments and were last-eight participants at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket without defeat from probably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have individuals hoping to play at their fourth finals. The Qatari team, having ended up in fourth in their third phase qualification section, were handed a major boost by being selected as a tournament host for the fourth round and clinched progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected exclusively from the Qatari league.

Pool C

Scotland's return to the World Cup in 28 years bears a lot like their last outing, when they lost to Brazil and Morocco; Haiti occupy the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to make it to the knockout 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 defeats than for the ordeal that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a drugs 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 took over as Brazil’s third coach in a qualification campaign that featured a streak of three successive defeats, but there is minimal jeopardy in South American qualifying these days. He has overseen a noticeable improvement. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the strongest of the north African nations, capable both of overwhelming opponents and playing on the counter-attack, qualifying with a perfect 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 friendly matches. But over the past year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his ideas across and in November the USA beat Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will start against the Paraguayan side, who are playing in their 6th finals. They have secured one game at each of the prior five, a statistic that has led to both group-stage eliminations and a quarter-final appearance. Their familiar defensive mindset hasn't altered: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most fluent Australia team and their roster lacks obvious superstars, but in spite of an shaky beginning to the third round of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side made it by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their last two fixtures. The group’s final team will emerge from the winner of Europe’s playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

After back-to-back group phase exits, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more progressive philosophy has brought a vulnerability and the group initially looked like posing a huge test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualification, finishing in second place behind Argentina in South America. While they scored 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, conceded a mere five.

Ivory Coast live in a state of constant declinism, where nothing is ever quite good as the golden generation of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. After an implausible continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualifying, scoring 25 goals and conceding none.

The tiniest country ever to qualify, Curaçao, were the final team drawn, however, making the group look a lot less daunting than it might have appeared.

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe lack the galacticos of previous Dutch generations, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualification, always appears a more reliable performer with his country's side than at domestic level. They begin against the Japanese team, who will participate in their 8th consecutive finals, and were by far the most dominant of the Asian nations in qualification, suffering one of their 16 games across the two phases, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side secured of a third consecutive finals berth by dominating a straightforward qualifying group, picking up 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are maybe not as defensive as some past Tunisian teams; they had a staggering 14 separate scorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the European play-off (against Ukraine in the semi-final, 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 iconic Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

Belgium and Egypt are emerging from the shadow of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, finding the net eight times but letting in five in two wins over Wales, finding goals easily at times, but also laboring to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most decorated side in African history, but having not managed to qualify during their peak period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully fulfilled their potential on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them attacking threat, but it was a defensive unit that allowed just twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified unbeaten.

A reserved place for Oceania essentially meant a spot at the finals for the All Whites, who cruised through qualification, 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 only once in a difficult third-round qualifying section, are on a travel ban, possibly