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Group A

The first fixture at the famous Azteca venue will replay the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana drew 1-1 with Mexico. The Mexican team's elimination stage record at the worldwide showpiece includes just a single victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. Their manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be targeting a third last-eight berth as tournament hosts. South Africa, led by experienced 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 represent Korea Republic's 11th consecutive World Cup appearance. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came third in the Best Player award when South Korea reached the semi-final in 2002. He is now their coach and guided them unbeaten through a anything but easy qualification section. The fourth side in Group A will be the winner 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 global finals on two occasions and, although Qatar 2022 brought their first goal, it did not bring their first point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of arguably the best group of players in their history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which favorable the draw looks depends mostly on whether Italy make it through the UEFA play-off (the other three teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have navigated the initial phase in four of the past five World Cups and were last-eight participants at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified unbeaten from arguably the easiest of the UEFA groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players hoping to feature at their fourth World Cups. The Qatari team, having finished fourth in their third-round qualification section, were given a major advantage by being selected as a host for the final phase and clinched qualification with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected exclusively from the Qatari league.

Group C

Scotland first finals in 28 years bears a lot like their previous outing, when they lost to the Seleção and the Atlas Lions; Haiti occupy the spot of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the knockout stage for the first time after eight prior group-stage exits. Haiti’s sole previous finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats than for the fate that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a doping test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have restricted away support due to a travel ban from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third coach in a qualifying process that featured a run of three successive losses, but there is minimal jeopardy in South American qualifying these days. He has overseen a noticeable improvement. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the best of the north African sides, able both of dominating rivals and playing on the counter-attack, securing qualification with a 100% record.

Group 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 understood and in November the USA beat Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will start against Paraguay, who are competing in their sixth finals. They have won one game at each of the prior five, a statistic that has led to both group-stage eliminations and a quarter-final place. Their familiar defensive approach has not altered: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australian team and their squad lacks clear stars, but despite an shaky start to the third round of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their final 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 successive group phase eliminations, Die Mannschaft are no longer the feared force of old. The shift to a more progressive philosophy has brought a fragility and the group initially looked like posing a massive test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the revelations of qualification, finishing in second place behind Argentina in South America. Although they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline including 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 permanent pessimism, where nothing is ever quite good as the golden generation of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. After an improbable continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, netting 25 goals without none.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side perhaps do not possess the star quality of previous Dutch eras, but they secured qualification unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, always appears a more reliable performer with his country's side than at domestic level. They open against Japan, who will participate in their eighth consecutive finals, and were by far the most impressive of the Asian sides in qualification, losing one of their 16 games over the two phases, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side secured of a third consecutive World Cup berth by dominating a straightforward qualification group, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are maybe not as defensive as certain past Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 separate goalscorers 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 rematch of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first executed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

Belgium and Egypt are emerging from the legacy of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualification, scoring the net eight times but conceding five in two wins over Wales, scoring freely 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 peak 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 defensive unit that conceded just twice in 10 games that meant they qualified undefeated.

A guaranteed place for Oceania effectively equated to a spot at the finals for the All Whites, who cruised 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. Team Melli, who lost once in a difficult third phase qualifying section, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly