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Pool A

The opening match at the iconic Azteca Stadium will replay the first game from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's knockout stage record at the worldwide tournament includes just one win, secured against Bulgaria when they previously hosted in 1986. Their coach, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be aiming for a third quarter-final berth as tournament hosts. The South African side, led by experienced Belgian tactician 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 player.

This will represent Korea Republic's 11th consecutive World Cup qualification. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished third in the Best Player voting when South Korea made the last four in 2002. Hong is now their manager and led them unbeaten through a anything but straightforward qualifying section. The fourth side 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 qualified for the global finals twice and, while Qatar 2022 brought their maiden finals goal, it did not deliver their first finals point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of arguably the best group of players in their history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which kind the draw looks hinges mostly on whether Italy make it through the UEFA playoff (the remaining 3 contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have got through the group stage in four of the last five tournaments and were last-eight participants at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified without defeat from probably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players aiming to play at their fourth World Cups. Qatar, having ended up fourth in their third phase qualifying section, were given a major advantage by being selected as a host for the final phase and clinched qualification with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is selected entirely from the Qatari league.

Pool C

Scotland return to the finals in 28 years looks a lot like their last appearance, when they were defeated to Brazil and the Atlas Lions; Haiti take the place of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the elimination stage for the first time after 8 prior group-stage exits. Haiti’s only prior finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three losses 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 traveling support due to a travel ban from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third coach in a qualification process that included a streak of three successive defeats, but there is minimal risk in South American qualification these days. He has presided over a noticeable improvement. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the best of the north African sides, capable both of overwhelming rivals and playing on the counter, securing qualification with a 100% record.

Pool D

Early last year, the United States seemed in a poor condition, 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 ideas across and in November the USA beat Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will start against the Paraguayan side, who are competing in their 6th World Cup. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a record that has resulted to both group-stage exits and a quarter-final place. Their familiar defensive approach hasn't changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most fluent Australia side and their roster lacks obvious superstars, but in spite of an iffy start to the third phase of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their last two fixtures. The group’s fourth team will come from the victor of the European playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

After back-to-back group phase eliminations, Die Mannschaft are no longer the feared force of old. The shift to a more progressive style has introduced a fragility and the draw initially looked like posing a massive challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the surprise package of qualifying, ending up second behind Argentina in South America. Although they netted only 14 goals in 18 games, a defence including Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, let in a paltry five.

Ivory Coast exist in a state of permanent pessimism, where nothing is ever as good as the golden squad of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. Following an implausible continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, scoring 25 goals without reply.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side perhaps lack the star quality of past Dutch eras, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualification, consistently appears a more reliable player with his national side than at club level. They open against Japan, who will play in their eighth consecutive finals, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian sides in qualifying, suffering one of their 16 games over the two groups, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia made sure of a third consecutive World Cup appearance by topping a straightforward qualifying group, picking up 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are perhaps not as dour as some previous Tunisian sides; they had a remarkable 14 different goalscorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the European playoff (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 executed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

Belgium and Egypt are moving on from the shadow of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualification, scoring 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 football history, but having not managed to reach the finals 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 cutting edge, but it was a defensive unit that conceded only twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified undefeated.

A guaranteed place for Oceania effectively meant a spot at the finals for the All Whites, who sailed 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 secured their place in North America next summer. Team Melli, who lost only once in a tricky third-round qualification group, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly