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Pool A

The initial match at the iconic Azteca venue will echo the first game from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's knockout stage record at the worldwide tournament includes just one victory, secured against Bulgaria when they previously hosted in 1986. Their coach, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that team and will be targeting a third quarter-final appearance as tournament 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 given against them for fielding an suspended footballer.

It will mark South Korea's 11th straight finals appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came in third place in the Golden Ball voting when South Korea made the last four in 2002. Hong is now their coach and led them unbeaten through a far from easy qualification section. The fourth side in Group A will be the winner of a European playoff involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

Canada have made it for the global finals twice and, while Qatar 2022 yielded their maiden goal, it did not deliver their first finals point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of probably the most talented squad in their history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which kind the draw appears hinges largely on whether Italy make it through the UEFA play-off (the other 3 teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have got through the initial phase in four of the past five tournaments and were quarter-finalists at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified without defeat from probably the most straightforward of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players aiming to feature at their fourth finals. Qatar, having ended up in fourth in their third phase qualifying section, were given a significant boost by being selected as a tournament host for the fourth phase and clinched progress with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is drawn entirely from the Qatari league.

Group C

Scotland's first finals in 28 years looks a lot like their last appearance, when they lost to the Seleção and the Atlas Lions; Haiti occupy the place of Norway. Their aim will be to make it to the knockout stage for the very first time after 8 prior group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s sole prior World Cup, in 1974, was notable less for their three losses than for the fate that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in 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 took over as Brazil’s third manager in a qualifying campaign that included a streak of three successive defeats, but there is minimal risk in South American qualifying these days. He has overseen a clear improvement. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the best of the north African sides, able both of overwhelming rivals and playing on the counter-attack, qualifying with a perfect record.

Pool D

At the start of last year, the USA seemed in a dismal condition, 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 beat Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will start against the Paraguayan side, who are competing in their 6th finals. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has led to both group-stage exits and a last-eight appearance. 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 fluent Australia side and their squad is without obvious superstars, but in spite of an iffy beginning to the third round of Asian qualification, 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 final team will emerge from the victor of the European playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

After back-to-back group-stage exits, 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 presenting a massive test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualification, ending up in second place behind Argentina in South America. While 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, conceded a paltry five.

Ivory Coast exist in a state of constant pessimism, where nothing is ever as good as the glorious squad of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. Following an improbable continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualifying, netting 25 goals without none.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side maybe lack the galacticos of past Dutch generations, but they secured qualification unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualification, consistently appears a more reliable performer with his country's side than at club level. They open against the Japanese team, who will participate in their eighth consecutive finals, and were by some way the most dominant of the Asian sides in qualification, suffering one of their 16 games over the two phases, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side made sure of a third consecutive World Cup berth by topping a manageable qualification section, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as dour as certain previous Tunisian sides; they had a remarkable 14 separate scorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the European playoff (against Ukraine in the semi, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will create a rematch of the group stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

Belgium and the Pharaohs are moving on from the shadow of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualification, finding the net eight times but letting in five in two wins over Wales, finding goals 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 not managed to qualify during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite done themselves justice on the world stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them attacking threat, but it was a defensive unit that allowed only twice in 10 games that meant they qualified unbeaten.

A guaranteed 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, 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. Iran, who were defeated once in a tricky third phase qualification group, are on a travel ban, possibly