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Group A

The initial fixture at the iconic Azteca venue will echo the opener from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's knockout stage history at the global tournament includes just one victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they previously were hosts in 1986. Their manager, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that squad and will be aiming for a third-ever last-eight berth as tournament hosts. The South African side, led by veteran Belgian manager Hugo Broos, qualified for their initial World Cup since they hosted, ending above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a win over Lesotho given against them for using an suspended footballer.

This will mark South Korea's 11th successive World Cup appearance. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came third in the Golden Ball voting when South Korea made the semi-final in 2002. Hong is now their coach and led them unbeaten through a anything but straightforward qualifying section. The final side in Group A will be the winner of a European qualifying play-off featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

The Canadian team have made it for the World Cup twice and, although Qatar 2022 brought their maiden goal, it did not bring their first point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of probably the best group of players in their nation's history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which kind the draw appears hinges mostly on whether the Italian national team progress through the European playoff (the other three teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have navigated the group stage in four of the last five tournaments and were quarter-finalists at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket without defeat from probably the most straightforward of the UEFA groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast individuals hoping to feature at their fourth finals. The Qatari team, having ended up fourth in their third-round qualifying group, were given a significant advantage by being selected as a tournament host for the fourth round and secured qualification with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is selected entirely from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland's first finals in 28 years looks a lot like their previous appearance, when they were defeated to the Seleção and the Atlas Lions; the Haitian team occupy the spot of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the elimination phase for the first time after 8 previous group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s only previous World Cup, in 1974, was remembered less for their three losses than for the ordeal that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a doping test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have limited traveling support due to travel restrictions involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third coach in a qualification campaign that featured a streak of three successive defeats, but there is minimal risk in South American qualifying these days. He has presided over a clear improvement. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the strongest of the north African nations, able both of overwhelming opponents and playing on the counter, securing qualification with a 100% record.

Group D

Early last year, the United States seemed in a poor state, 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 seemingly begun to get his message understood and in November the USA beat Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will begin against the Paraguayan side, who are competing in their 6th finals. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has resulted to both group phase exits and a last-eight appearance. Their familiar defensive approach has not changed: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most free-flowing Australian side and their squad is without obvious stars, but in spite of an iffy beginning to the third round of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side made it by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their final two fixtures. The pool's final team will emerge from the victor of Europe’s Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

After back-to-back group phase eliminations, Die Mannschaft are no longer the feared force of old. The transition to a more progressive philosophy has introduced a fragility and the group initially looked like presenting a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the revelations of qualification, finishing second behind Argentina in South America. Although they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline featuring Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a mere five.

Côte d’Ivoire live in a state of constant pessimism, where nothing is ever quite good as the golden squad 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 triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, scoring 25 goals and conceding reply.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side maybe do not possess the galacticos of previous Dutch eras, but they secured qualification without losing and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualification, always appears a more reliable player with his country's side than at club level. They open against the Japanese team, who will play in their 8th successive World Cup, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian nations in qualification, suffering one of their 16 games across the two phases, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side made sure of a third consecutive finals berth by dominating a straightforward qualifying group, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are maybe not as defensive as some previous Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 separate scorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the UEFA play-off (against Ukraine in the semi-final, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will create a repeat of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first executed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

The Belgian Red Devils and Egypt are emerging from the legacy of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualifying, finding the net eight times but letting in five in two wins over Wales, scoring easily at times, but also struggling to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most decorated side in African history, but having failed to reach the finals during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite fulfilled their potential on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defence that conceded only twice in 10 games that meant they qualified undefeated.

A guaranteed place for Oceania essentially equated to a spot at the finals for the All Whites, who cruised through qualifying, 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. Iran, who were defeated once in a tricky third-round qualification group, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially