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Pool A

The first fixture at the iconic Azteca venue will echo the first game from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with Mexico. Mexico's elimination stage record at the worldwide tournament features just a single win, secured against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that team and will be targeting a third-ever last-eight appearance as hosts. South Africa, coached by veteran Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first finals since hosting, ending above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a victory over Lesotho given against them for using an suspended footballer.

This will mark South Korea's eleventh consecutive finals appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came third in the Best Player award when South Korea made the last four in 2002. He is now their manager and led them unbeaten through a anything but straightforward qualifying group. The fourth team in Group A will be the winner of a European qualifying play-off involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

The Canadian team have qualified for the global finals on two occasions and, although Qatar 2022 brought their first finals goal, it did not deliver their first-ever point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of probably the best squad in their nation's history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How kind the draw looks hinges mostly on whether the Italian national team progress through the European playoff (the remaining three teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have navigated the group stage in four of the last five World Cups and were last-eight participants at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified unbeaten from arguably the most straightforward of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast individuals aiming to feature at their fourth World Cups. The Qatari team, having ended up in fourth in their third phase qualifying section, were given a major advantage by being selected as a tournament host for the final round and secured qualification with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected entirely from the Qatari league.

Group C

Scotland's return to the World Cup in 28 years looks a lot like their last appearance, when they were defeated to the Seleção and Morocco; the Haitian team occupy the place of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the knockout phase for the first time after eight prior group phase eliminations. Haiti’s sole prior World Cup, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats than for the fate that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a doping test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have limited traveling support due to a travel ban from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third coach in a qualifying process that featured a streak of three consecutive losses, but there is little jeopardy in South American qualifying these days. He has overseen a noticeable improvement. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the strongest of the north African nations, able both of dominating opponents and playing on the counter-attack, qualifying with a perfect record.

Pool D

At the start of 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 ideas across and in November the USA beat Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will begin against Paraguay, who are playing in their 6th finals. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has led to both group phase exits and a quarter-final place. Their familiar cautious mindset has not altered: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most fluent Australia side and their squad is without obvious stars, but in spite of an shaky beginning to the third round of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side made it by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their last two fixtures. The pool's final team will come from the winner of the European Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

Following successive group phase exits, Germany are no longer the feared force of old. The transition to a more progressive style has brought a fragility and the group initially looked like posing a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualifying, finishing in second place behind Argentina in South America. While they scored 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, conceded a paltry five.

Côte d’Ivoire live in a state of constant pessimism, where nothing is ever as successful as the golden squad of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control 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 qualification, netting 25 goals and conceding reply.

The tiniest country ever to qualify, Curaçao, were the final team picked, though, making the group look a lot far less intimidating than it could have appeared.

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side maybe lack the galacticos of previous Dutch eras, but they qualified without losing and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualification, always 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 8th consecutive World Cup, and were by far the most impressive of the Asian sides in qualifying, losing one of their 16 games across the two phases, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side made sure of a third consecutive finals berth by topping a straightforward qualification section, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as defensive as certain previous Tunisian sides; they had a remarkable 14 different goalscorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the European playoff (against Ukraine in the semi-final, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will create a rematch of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first executed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Group G

Belgium and the Pharaohs are moving on from the shadow of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, scoring the net eight times but letting in five in two wins over Wales, scoring freely at times, but also laboring to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most successful side in African football history, but having not managed to reach the finals during their peak period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite done themselves justice 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 ensured they qualified undefeated.

A guaranteed place for Oceania essentially equated to a spot at the finals for the All Whites, who sailed through qualifying, winning five games out of five, netting 29 goals, nine of them by Chris Wood, but they are the lowest FIFA-ranked side to have secured their place in North America next summer. Iran, who lost only once in a difficult third phase qualifying group, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially