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Group A

The opening match at the famous Azteca Stadium will mirror the first game from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's knockout stage history at the worldwide tournament includes just one win, secured against Bulgaria when they last were hosts in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that squad and will be aiming for a third last-eight appearance as hosts. South Africa, coached by veteran Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first World Cup since they hosted, ending above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a win over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an suspended footballer.

This will mark South Korea's 11th straight World Cup appearance. Legend Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and came in third place in the Golden Ball voting when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. He is now their manager and guided them unbeaten through a far from straightforward qualifying group. The final side in Group A will be the winner of a European qualifying play-off featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

Canada have made it for the World Cup on two occasions and, while Qatar 2022 yielded their first finals goal, it did not deliver their first finals point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of probably the most talented group of players 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 looks depends mostly on whether the Italian national team progress through the European playoff (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 past five tournaments and were quarter-finalists at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket without defeat from probably the easiest of the UEFA groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast individuals hoping to play at their fourth finals. The Qatari team, having ended up in fourth in their third-round qualification section, were handed a major advantage by being selected as a host for the final round and clinched qualification with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is selected entirely from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland's return to the World Cup in 28 years bears a lot like their last appearance, when they were defeated to Brazil and Morocco; the Haitian team occupy the spot of Norway. Their aim will be to make it to the elimination stage for the first time after 8 prior group phase exits. Haiti’s sole previous World Cup, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats than for the fate that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a doping test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have restricted away support due to travel restrictions from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third coach in a qualifying process that featured a run of three consecutive losses, but there is minimal risk in South American qualification these days. He has overseen a clear upturn in form. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the best of the north African sides, able both of overwhelming opponents and playing on the counter-attack, qualifying with a perfect record.

Group D

At the start of last year, the United States seemed in a dismal state, losing to Panama and Canada in the Concacaf Nations League and to Turkey and Switzerland in friendly matches. But over the last year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his message understood and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will start against Paraguay, who are playing in their 6th finals. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has led to both group phase exits and a quarter-final place. Their trademark defensive mindset has not changed: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most free-flowing Australian side and their squad lacks obvious stars, but in spite of an shaky beginning to the third round of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side made it by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their last two fixtures. The pool's final team will emerge from the winner of the European Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

Following successive group-stage exits, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The shift to a more attacking philosophy has brought a vulnerability and the group initially looked like posing a huge test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the surprise package of qualification, ending up in second place behind Argentina in South America. Although they netted only 14 goals in 18 games, a defence featuring Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, protected by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, let in a mere five.

Ivory Coast exist in a state of constant pessimism, where nothing is ever quite good 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 improbable continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualifying, netting 25 goals without none.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe do not possess the galacticos of previous Dutch eras, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualification, always appears a more reliable player 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 dominant of the Asian sides in qualifying, losing one of their 16 games over the two groups, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia made sure of a third straight World Cup appearance by dominating a manageable qualifying section, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as dour as some previous Tunisian sides; they had a remarkable 14 separate scorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the UEFA 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 stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

The Belgian Red Devils and the Pharaohs are emerging from the legacy of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, finding the net eight times but letting in 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 defensive unit that allowed just twice in 10 games that meant they qualified unbeaten.

A reserved place for Oceania essentially meant a spot at the finals for the All Whites, who sailed through qualification, winning five games out of five, scoring 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 only once in a difficult third phase qualification group, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially