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Pool A

This opening game at the historic Azteca venue will echo the first game from 2010, when South Africa drew 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's elimination phase record at the worldwide tournament features just a single victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they previously were hosts in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that squad and will be aiming for a third-ever quarter-final berth as hosts. The South African side, coached by veteran Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial World Cup since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite having a victory over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an ineligible footballer.

It will represent Korea Republic's 11th consecutive finals qualification. Icon Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and finished third in the Best Player voting when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. Hong is now their coach and guided them without a loss through a far from easy qualifying 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

Canada have qualified for the World Cup on two occasions and, while Qatar 2022 brought their maiden 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 stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How favorable the draw looks depends mostly on whether the Italian national team progress through the European playoff (the remaining three contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have got through the initial phase in four of the past five tournaments and were quarter-finalists at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified unbeaten from probably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players aiming to feature at their fourth finals. Qatar, having finished fourth in their third-round qualifying group, were handed a significant advantage by being selected as a host for the fourth phase and secured progress with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected entirely from the Qatari league.

Group C

Scotland's return to the World Cup in 28 years looks a lot like their previous outing, when they lost to Brazil and Morocco; Haiti take the spot of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the elimination phase for the very first time after eight prior group phase exits. Haiti’s only previous finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats than for the fate that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a doping test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have limited away support due to travel restrictions involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third coach in a qualifying process that included a run of three consecutive defeats, but there is minimal risk in South American qualification these days. He has overseen a noticeable improvement. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the best of the north African sides, capable both of overwhelming rivals and playing on the counter-attack, securing qualification with a perfect 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 friendly matches. But over the past year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his message across and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will begin against Paraguay, who are playing in their sixth World Cup. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has resulted to both group-stage eliminations and a quarter-final place. Their trademark defensive approach hasn't changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

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

Group E

Following back-to-back group-stage exits, Germany are no longer the bogeymen of old. The shift to a more progressive style has brought a fragility and the draw initially looked like presenting a massive challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualifying, finishing second behind Argentina in South America. Although they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a defence featuring Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a paltry five.

Ivory Coast exist in a state of constant declinism, where nothing is ever as good as the glorious squad of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved transformative. After an implausible continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualification, netting 25 goals and conceding none.

The tiniest country ever to reach the finals, Curaçao, were the final team picked, however, making the group look a lot less daunting than it could have been.

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side perhaps lack the star quality of past Dutch eras, but they qualified without losing and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, always appears a more reliable performer with his country's side than at domestic level. They begin against Japan, who will play in their 8th consecutive finals, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian nations in qualifying, losing one of their 16 games across the two phases, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side secured of a third straight finals berth by topping a manageable qualifying group, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as dour as some past Tunisian teams; they had a staggering 14 different scorers 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 repeat of the group stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

Belgium and Egypt are moving on from the legacy of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualification, scoring the net eight times but letting in five in two wins over Wales, finding goals freely 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 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 defensive unit that allowed only twice in 10 games that meant they qualified unbeaten.

A guaranteed place for Oceania effectively meant a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who cruised through qualifying, winning five games out of five, netting 29 goals, nine of them by Chris Wood, but they are the lowest-ranked side to have secured their place in North America next summer. Team Melli, who were defeated once in a tricky third phase qualification group, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly