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Pool A

The opening match at the historic Azteca venue will replay the opener from 2010, when Bafana Bafana drew 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's knockout stage record at the worldwide tournament features just one win, achieved against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be aiming for a third last-eight berth as hosts. The South African side, led by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, qualified for their first World Cup since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a win over Lesotho awarded against them for using an ineligible footballer.

It will mark Korea Republic's eleventh straight finals appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished third in the Golden Ball voting when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. He is now their manager and guided them unbeaten through a far from straightforward qualification group. The final side in Group A will be the winner of a European playoff involving 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 first finals goal, it did not deliver their first point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of probably the most talented 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 largely on whether Italy make it through the UEFA play-off (the remaining three teams 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 past five tournaments and were last-eight participants at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket without defeat from arguably the most straightforward of the UEFA groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players aiming to play at their fourth finals. Qatar, having ended up fourth in their third-round qualifying group, were given a significant boost 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 domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland's return to the World Cup in 28 years bears a lot like their previous appearance, when they lost to the Seleção and the Atlas Lions; Haiti take the spot of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the knockout phase for the very first time after 8 previous group phase exits. Haiti’s sole prior World Cup, in 1974, was notable less for their three losses than for the fate that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a doping test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have limited away support due to travel restrictions from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third manager in a qualification process that featured a streak of three successive defeats, but there is minimal jeopardy in South American qualification these days. He has presided over a clear upturn in form. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the strongest of the north African sides, able both of overwhelming rivals and playing on the counter-attack, securing qualification with a perfect record.

Group D

At the start of 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 past year, Mauricio Pochettino has apparently begun to get his message across and in November the USA beat Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will begin against the Paraguayan side, who are playing in their 6th finals. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has led to both group phase exits and a quarter-final appearance. Their familiar defensive approach hasn't altered: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australian side and their squad is without obvious stars, but in spite of an iffy start to the third round of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side made it by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their final two fixtures. The group’s final team will come from the winner of Europe’s Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

Following successive group phase eliminations, Germany are no longer the feared force of old. The transition to a more attacking style has brought a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like presenting a massive test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualification, ending up in second place 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, protected by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a mere five.

Côte d’Ivoire live in a state of permanent pessimism, where nothing is ever as successful as the golden squad of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. Following an improbable 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, however, making the group look a lot far less daunting than it could have appeared.

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side maybe lack the star quality of previous Dutch eras, but they secured qualification without losing and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualification, consistently looks a more effective performer with his national side than at club level. They begin against Japan, who will play in their 8th consecutive finals, and were by some way the most dominant of the Asian sides in qualification, losing one of their 16 games over the two phases, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia secured of a third consecutive World Cup appearance by dominating a manageable qualification group, picking up 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are perhaps not as dour as certain past Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 separate scorers in qualification. 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 create 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 the Pharaohs are moving on 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 struggling 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 golden 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 defence that allowed just twice in 10 games that meant 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 booked their place in North America next summer. Iran, who were defeated only once in a tricky third phase qualifying section, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly