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Group A

The initial game at the historic Azteca Stadium will echo the opener from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's knockout stage history at the worldwide showpiece features just one win, achieved against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that team and will be aiming for a third-ever quarter-final berth as tournament hosts. South Africa, led by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, qualified for their initial finals since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a win over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an ineligible footballer.

This will represent South Korea's eleventh straight finals qualification. Icon Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and finished in third place in the Best Player award when South Korea made the last four in 2002. He is now their coach and guided them unbeaten through a anything but straightforward qualification group. The fourth side in Group A will be the victor of a European qualifying play-off featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

The Canadian team have qualified for the World Cup twice and, while Qatar 2022 brought their maiden finals goal, it did not bring their first point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of arguably the most talented squad in their history, with key men 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 UEFA play-off (the remaining 3 contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have got through the group stage in four of the last five World Cups and were quarter-finalists at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified unbeaten from arguably the easiest of the UEFA groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast individuals hoping to feature at their fourth finals. Qatar, having finished in fourth in their third-round qualifying section, were handed a major advantage by being selected as a tournament host for the final round and clinched qualification with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is drawn entirely from the domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland's first finals in 28 years looks a lot like their last outing, when they were defeated to Brazil and the Atlas Lions; the Haitian team occupy the place of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the elimination stage for the very first time after 8 prior group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s sole previous World Cup, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats than for the fate that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a doping test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have restricted traveling support due to a travel ban from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third manager in a qualifying campaign that included a streak of three successive defeats, but there is minimal risk in South American qualification these days. He has overseen a noticeable upturn in form. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the strongest of the north African nations, capable both of dominating rivals and playing on the counter, qualifying with a 100% win record.

Pool D

Early 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 friendlies. But over the last year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his ideas understood and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will start against the Paraguayan side, who are playing in their 6th finals. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a record that has resulted to both group-stage eliminations and a last-eight appearance. Their trademark cautious mindset hasn't altered: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

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

Group E

Following back-to-back group phase eliminations, Germany are no longer the feared force of old. The transition to a more progressive style has brought a vulnerability and the group initially looked like posing a massive test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the surprise package of qualifying, ending up second behind Argentina in South America. Although they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a defence including 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 taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. After an implausible continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualifying, scoring 25 goals and conceding none.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side perhaps do not possess the galacticos of past Dutch eras, but they qualified without losing and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, always appears a more reliable performer with his country's side than at club level. They begin against Japan, who will participate in their eighth successive World Cup, and were by far the most impressive of the Asian nations in qualification, suffering one of their 16 games over the two groups, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia made sure of a third consecutive finals berth by dominating a straightforward qualification section, picking up 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as dour as certain past Tunisian sides; they had a remarkable 14 separate scorers 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 repeat 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 shadow of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, finding the net eight times but letting in 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 successful side in African history, but having failed to reach the finals during their peak period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully done themselves justice on the world stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them attacking threat, but it was a defensive unit that allowed just twice in 10 games that meant they qualified undefeated.

A reserved place for Oceania effectively equated to a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who cruised through qualifying, winning five games out of five, netting 29 goals, nine of them by Chris Wood, but they are the lowest-ranked side to have booked their place in North America next summer. Team Melli, who were defeated once in a tricky third-round qualifying section, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially