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Group A

This first fixture at the iconic Azteca Stadium will mirror the opener from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with El Tri. The Mexican team's knockout stage record at the global tournament includes just a single win, secured against Bulgaria when they previously hosted in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be targeting a third-ever last-eight appearance as tournament hosts. South Africa, coached by veteran Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial finals since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a win over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an suspended footballer.

This will mark Korea Republic's eleventh consecutive finals appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished in third place in the Golden Ball voting when South Korea made the last four in 2002. Hong is now their manager and guided them unbeaten through a anything but easy qualifying section. The fourth side in Group A will be the victor of a UEFA qualifying play-off featuring 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 finals goal, it did not deliver their first finals point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of arguably 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 kind the group looks hinges largely on whether Italy make it through the UEFA playoff (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 group stage in four of the past five tournaments and were last-eight participants at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified without defeat from arguably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast individuals aiming to feature at their fourth finals. Qatar, having ended up fourth in their third-round qualification section, were handed a major boost by being selected as a tournament host for the final phase and secured progress with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is drawn exclusively from the domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland return to the finals in 28 years looks a lot like their previous appearance, when they lost to the Seleção and the Atlas Lions; Haiti take the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to make it to the knockout phase for the first time after 8 previous group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s sole prior finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats than for the fate that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a drugs test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have restricted traveling support due to travel restrictions from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third manager in a qualifying campaign that featured a streak of three consecutive defeats, but there is minimal jeopardy in South American qualification these days. He has overseen a clear upturn in form. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the best of the north African nations, capable both of overwhelming rivals and playing on the counter-attack, securing qualification with a 100% record.

Pool D

At the start of last year, the USA 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 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 start against the Paraguayan side, who are playing in their 6th World Cup. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a record that has led to both group-stage eliminations and a quarter-final appearance. Their trademark defensive mindset hasn't changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

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

Group E

After back-to-back group-stage eliminations, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more attacking philosophy has introduced a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like presenting a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualifying, finishing 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, protected by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, let in a paltry five.

Côte d’Ivoire live in a state of constant pessimism, where nothing is ever quite successful as the glorious generation of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved transformative. After an implausible continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, scoring 25 goals without reply.

The tiniest country ever to reach the finals, the Curaçao team, were the final team drawn, though, making the group look a lot far less intimidating than it might have appeared.

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side perhaps do not possess the galacticos of past Dutch generations, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, consistently appears a more reliable performer with his country's side than at domestic level. They begin against Japan, who will play in their eighth successive finals, and were by some way the most dominant of the Asian nations in qualification, suffering one of their 16 games over the two groups, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side made sure of a third consecutive finals appearance by topping a manageable qualifying group, picking up 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as defensive as some past Tunisian teams; they had a remarkable 14 different scorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the European play-off (against Ukraine in the semi-final, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will set up a repeat of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Group G

The Belgian Red Devils and Egypt are moving on from the legacy 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 freely at times, but also laboring to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most successful side in African history, but having not managed to qualify during their peak period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite fulfilled their potential on the world stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them attacking threat, but it was a defence that conceded only twice in 10 games that meant they qualified undefeated.

A reserved place for Oceania effectively 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-ranked side to have secured their place in North America next summer. Iran, who lost once in a difficult third phase qualification section, are on a travel ban, potentially