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Pool A

The opening fixture at the famous Azteca venue will mirror the first game from 2010, when South Africa drew 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's knockout phase history at the worldwide showpiece features just one victory, secured against Bulgaria when they previously were hosts in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that squad and will be targeting a third last-eight berth as hosts. The South African side, led by veteran Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first World Cup since they hosted, ending above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a win over Lesotho awarded against them for using an suspended footballer.

It will represent Korea Republic's eleventh straight finals appearance. Legend 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. He is now their manager and led them unbeaten through a far from straightforward qualifying section. The fourth team in Group A will be the victor of a European qualifying play-off involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

The Canadian team have made it for the global finals twice and, while Qatar 2022 brought their maiden finals goal, it did not bring their first finals point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of probably the most talented squad in their nation's history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which favorable the draw appears depends mostly on whether the Italian national team make it through the European play-off (the other three teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have got through the initial phase in four of the last five World Cups and were quarter-finalists at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket unbeaten from probably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have individuals hoping to play at their fourth finals. Qatar, having finished fourth in their third-round qualifying group, were handed a major advantage by being selected as a host for the fourth round and secured qualification with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is drawn exclusively from the Qatari league.

Group C

Scotland 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 elimination stage for the first time after 8 prior group phase eliminations. Haiti’s only previous finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three losses than for the fate that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a drugs test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have limited traveling support due to a travel ban from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third manager in a qualifying campaign that included a streak of three successive losses, but there is little jeopardy in South American qualification these days. He has overseen a clear improvement. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the best of the north African sides, capable both of dominating rivals and playing on the counter, securing qualification with a perfect record.

Group D

At the start of last year, the USA seemed in a dismal state, losing 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 across and in November the USA beat Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will begin against the Paraguayan side, who are playing in their sixth finals. They have won one game at each of the prior five, a record that has resulted to both group-stage exits and a last-eight place. Their trademark cautious approach has not altered: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most free-flowing Australia side and their squad lacks obvious superstars, but despite an shaky start to the third round of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their last two fixtures. The pool's final team will come from the victor of Europe’s Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

Following successive group phase exits, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more attacking philosophy has introduced a vulnerability and the group initially looked like posing a massive challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the revelations of qualification, finishing second behind Argentina in South America. While they scored 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, let in a paltry five.

Côte d’Ivoire exist in a state of permanent declinism, where nothing is ever quite successful 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 clinical in qualification, netting 25 goals and conceding none.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side perhaps do not possess the star quality of past Dutch generations, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, always looks a more effective performer with his national side than at domestic level. They open against the Japanese team, who will play in their eighth successive finals, and were by some way the most dominant of the Asian nations in qualifying, suffering 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 appearance by topping a straightforward qualifying group, picking up 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as defensive as some previous Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 separate goalscorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the UEFA playoff (against Ukraine in the semi, 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 executed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Group G

The Belgian Red Devils and the Pharaohs are moving on from the legacy of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, finding the net eight times but conceding 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 football history, but having failed to reach the finals during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully done themselves justice on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defence that allowed 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 sailed through qualification, winning five games out of five, netting 29 goals, nine of them by Chris Wood, but they are the lowest-ranked side to have booked their place in North America next summer. Iran, who were defeated only once in a tricky third-round qualifying section, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly