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Group A

The opening game at the famous Azteca venue will mirror the opener from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with Mexico. Mexico's knockout phase record at the worldwide showpiece includes just one victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they previously hosted in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be aiming for a third last-eight berth as tournament hosts. The South African side, led by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial World Cup since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite having a victory over Lesotho given against them for fielding an ineligible player.

This will mark Korea Republic's 11th straight World Cup qualification. Icon Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and came in third place in the Best Player voting when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. He is now their manager and guided them without a loss through a far from easy qualification group. The final side in Group A will be the victor of a UEFA playoff involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

Canada have made it for the World Cup on two occasions and, while Qatar 2022 yielded their maiden goal, it did not bring 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 draw appears hinges mostly on whether the Italian national team progress through the European play-off (the other 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 past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket without defeat from arguably the most straightforward of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast individuals hoping to play at their fourth World Cups. The Qatari team, having ended up fourth in their third phase qualification section, were given a major advantage by being selected as a tournament host for the fourth round and clinched progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is drawn entirely from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland first World Cup in 28 years bears a lot like their previous appearance, when they lost to Brazil and Morocco; the Haitian team take the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the elimination phase for the very first time after eight previous group phase exits. Haiti’s only previous finals, in 1974, was notable less for their three defeats than for the ordeal that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing 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 coach in a qualifying campaign that featured a streak of three successive losses, but there is minimal risk in South American qualification these days. He has overseen a noticeable improvement. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the best of the north African nations, capable both of overwhelming rivals and playing on the counter-attack, qualifying with a 100% record.

Pool D

At the start of last year, the United States seemed in a poor 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 defeated Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will begin against Paraguay, who are competing in their sixth World Cup. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has resulted to both group phase eliminations and a quarter-final place. Their trademark defensive mindset hasn't changed: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australia side and their squad is without obvious stars, but in spite of an iffy beginning 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 final two matches. The pool's fourth team will come from the victor of Europe’s playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following back-to-back group phase exits, Die Mannschaft are no longer the feared force of old. The transition to a more attacking philosophy has introduced a vulnerability and the group initially looked like posing a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the revelations of qualifying, finishing second behind Argentina in South America. While 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, let in a mere five.

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

The smallest country ever to qualify, Curaçao, were the fourth team drawn, however, making the group look a lot far less daunting than it might have appeared.

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side maybe do not possess the galacticos of past Dutch generations, but they secured qualification without losing and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, consistently looks a more effective performer with his country's side than at domestic level. They open against Japan, who will play in their eighth consecutive World Cup, and were by far the most impressive of the Asian sides in qualification, losing one of their 16 games across the two phases, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side made sure of a third consecutive World Cup berth by dominating a manageable qualifying section, picking up 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as dour as certain past Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 separate goalscorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the UEFA play-off (against Ukraine in the semi, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will set up a rematch of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Group G

The Belgian Red Devils and Egypt are emerging from the legacy of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualification, scoring 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 not managed to reach the finals during their peak period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite done themselves justice on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them attacking threat, but it was a defence that conceded just twice in 10 games that meant they qualified undefeated.

A reserved place for Oceania essentially equated to a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who sailed through qualifying, 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 were defeated only once in a tricky third-round qualifying group, are on a travel ban, possibly