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Group A

The initial game at the famous Azteca Stadium will replay the first game from 2010, when South Africa drew 1-1 with Mexico. Mexico's knockout stage history at the worldwide tournament features just a single victory, secured against Bulgaria when they last were hosts in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that team and will be aiming for a third quarter-final appearance as tournament hosts. South Africa, coached by experienced Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first finals since they hosted, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite having a victory over Lesotho given against them for using an ineligible footballer.

It will represent South Korea's 11th successive finals appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished third in the Best Player award when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. Hong is now their manager and guided them without a loss through a far from easy qualification group. The final team in Group A will be the victor of a European playoff involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

The Canadian team have made it for the World Cup twice and, while Qatar 2022 yielded their first goal, it did not bring their first point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of probably the best squad in their nation's history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which favorable the draw appears hinges largely on whether the Italian national team make it through the UEFA playoff (the remaining 3 teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have got through the initial phase in four of the past five World Cups and were quarter-finalists at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified without defeat from probably the most straightforward of the UEFA groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have individuals aiming to play at their fourth finals. The Qatari team, having ended up fourth in their third-round qualification group, were handed a significant advantage by being chosen 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 entirely from the domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland's first World Cup in 28 years bears a lot like their previous appearance, when they were defeated to the Seleção and the Atlas Lions; Haiti take the spot of Norway. Their primary objective will be to make it to the knockout stage for the very first time after eight previous group phase exits. Haiti’s only previous finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats than for the ordeal 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 limited traveling support due to a travel ban involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third manager in a qualifying process that included a run of three consecutive defeats, but there is little risk in South American qualifying these days. He has presided over a noticeable improvement. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the strongest of the north African sides, able both of overwhelming rivals and playing on the counter, securing qualification with a perfect 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 friendlies. But over the past year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his ideas across and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will start against Paraguay, who are competing in their 6th World Cup. They have won one game at each of the prior five, a statistic that has led to both group phase eliminations and a quarter-final appearance. Their familiar defensive mindset hasn't changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most fluent Australian team and their roster is without clear superstars, but despite an iffy start to the third phase of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side made it by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their final two matches. The group’s final team will come from the victor of the European Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following successive group-stage eliminations, 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 presenting a massive challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualification, ending up second behind Argentina in South America. Although they netted only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline including Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, protected by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, let in a mere five.

Ivory Coast live in a state of permanent declinism, where nothing is ever as good as the glorious generation of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Emerse Faé has proved transformative. Following an improbable continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualification, netting 25 goals without none.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side maybe lack the galacticos of previous Dutch eras, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, consistently appears a more effective performer with his country's side than at domestic level. They open against the Japanese team, who will play in their eighth successive finals, and were by far the most impressive of the Asian sides in qualification, suffering one of their 16 games across the two groups, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side secured of a third consecutive World Cup berth by topping a straightforward qualification group, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are maybe not as defensive as certain previous Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 different goalscorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the European 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 famous Cruyff Turn.

Group G

The Belgian Red Devils and Egypt are emerging from the shadow 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, finding goals freely at times, but also laboring to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most decorated 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 global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defence that conceded only 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 sailed 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. Team Melli, who were defeated only once in a tricky third phase qualifying section, are on a travel ban, potentially