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Pool A

This initial fixture at the iconic Azteca Stadium will echo the opener from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with Mexico. Mexico's knockout phase record at the global showpiece includes just a single victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they previously hosted in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that squad and will be targeting a third-ever last-eight appearance as hosts. South Africa, led by veteran Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, qualified for their initial finals since hosting, ending above Nigeria and Benin even after having a victory over Lesotho given against them for using an ineligible player.

This will represent South Korea's eleventh successive World Cup appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came third in the Best Player voting when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. Hong is now their manager and led them without a loss through a anything but easy qualification group. The final team in Group A will be the victor of a European playoff featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

The Canadian team have qualified for the World Cup on two occasions and, while Qatar 2022 yielded their first goal, it did not bring their first finals point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of arguably the best squad in their history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which favorable the draw appears hinges largely on whether the Italian national team make it through the UEFA playoff (the other 3 teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have got through the group stage in four of the past five World Cups and were quarter-finalists at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket without defeat from probably the easiest of the UEFA groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players aiming to feature at their fourth World Cups. The Qatari team, having finished fourth in their third phase qualifying group, were given a major advantage by being chosen as a host for the fourth phase and secured progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is drawn entirely from the Qatari league.

Pool C

Scotland's first World Cup in 28 years looks a lot like their last outing, when they were defeated to the Seleção and Morocco; 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-stage eliminations. Haiti’s only prior World Cup, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats than for the fate that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a doping test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have restricted away support due to a travel ban involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third manager in a qualifying process that featured a streak of three successive losses, but there is little jeopardy in South American qualifying these days. He has presided over a noticeable upturn in form. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the strongest of the north African sides, able both of overwhelming opponents and playing on the counter-attack, 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 message across and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will start against the Paraguayan side, who are competing in their 6th World Cup. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a record that has led to both group phase eliminations and a last-eight appearance. Their familiar defensive mindset has not changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most free-flowing Australian team and their roster lacks clear 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 immense pressure in their last two matches. The group’s fourth team will emerge from the winner of Europe’s Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following back-to-back group-stage eliminations, Germany are no longer the feared force of old. The transition to a more progressive style has introduced a vulnerability and the group initially looked like posing a massive test 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 including Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, protected by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a mere five.

Côte d’Ivoire live in a state of permanent declinism, where nothing is ever as successful 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 transformative. Following an implausible continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualifying, netting 25 goals and conceding reply.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe lack the star quality of past Dutch eras, but they qualified without losing and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, always looks a more reliable performer with his national side than at domestic level. They open against the Japanese team, who will participate in their 8th successive World Cup, and were by far the most dominant of the Asian nations in qualifying, losing 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 World Cup berth by dominating a straightforward qualification section, picking up 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as defensive as some past Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 different scorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the European play-off (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 iconic Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

The Belgian Red Devils and the Pharaohs are emerging from the legacy of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualification, finding the net eight times but letting in five in two wins over Wales, finding goals freely at times, but also struggling 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 quite fulfilled their potential on the world stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defence that conceded only twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified unbeaten.

A reserved place for Oceania essentially equated to a spot at the finals for the All Whites, who cruised through qualification, winning five games out of five, netting 29 goals, nine of them by Chris Wood, but they are the lowest FIFA-ranked side to have secured their place in North America next summer. Team Melli, who were defeated only once in a difficult third-round qualification group, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly