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Pool A

The first match at the iconic Azteca Stadium will replay the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana drew 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's knockout phase record at the global tournament includes just one win, secured against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. The coach, 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 veteran Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial World Cup since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a victory over Lesotho given against them for fielding an suspended footballer.

It will mark Korea Republic's 11th consecutive finals appearance. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came third in the Golden Ball voting when South Korea reached the semi-final in 2002. He is now their manager and led them unbeaten through a anything but straightforward qualifying group. The final side in Group A will be the winner of a UEFA qualifying play-off involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

Canada have made it for the World Cup twice and, although Qatar 2022 brought their first goal, it did not deliver their first-ever finals point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of arguably the best group of players in their 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 play-off (the remaining 3 teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have navigated the group stage in four of the past five tournaments and were last-eight participants 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, have players hoping to feature at their fourth World Cups. Qatar, having finished fourth in their third-round qualifying group, were handed a significant advantage by being selected as a tournament host for the fourth round and secured progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected exclusively from the Qatari league.

Group C

Scotland's first World Cup in 28 years looks a lot like their previous outing, when they were defeated to Brazil and the Atlas Lions; the Haitian team occupy the spot of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the knockout phase for the very first time after 8 previous group-stage exits. Haiti’s only prior finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three losses than for the fate that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a drugs 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 took over as Brazil’s third coach in a qualifying process that included a streak of three consecutive defeats, but there is little risk in South American qualification these days. He has presided over a clear improvement. 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, qualifying with a perfect record.

Pool D

At the start of last year, the United States 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 past 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 Paraguay, who are playing in their 6th World Cup. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a record 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 qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australia team and their squad lacks obvious superstars, but despite an iffy beginning to the third phase 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 come from the winner of the European Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following successive group phase exits, Die Mannschaft are no longer the feared force of old. The shift to a more attacking 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 defence featuring Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, protected by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, let in a paltry five.

Ivory Coast exist in a state of permanent declinism, where nothing is ever quite successful as the golden generation 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 success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, scoring 25 goals without reply.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe do not possess the galacticos of previous Dutch eras, but they secured qualification without losing and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualification, consistently appears a more effective player with his country's side than at domestic level. They begin against the Japanese team, who will participate in their eighth successive World Cup, and were by some way the most dominant of the Asian nations in qualification, losing one of their 16 games over the two groups, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side made sure of a third consecutive finals appearance by topping a straightforward qualification group, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as defensive as certain previous Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 different scorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the UEFA playoff (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 executed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Group G

Belgium and the Pharaohs are moving on from the shadow of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualification, scoring 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 successful side in African football history, but having not managed to qualify 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 defensive unit that allowed just twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified unbeaten.

A guaranteed place for Oceania effectively meant a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who cruised 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 booked their place in North America next summer. Iran, who lost only once in a tricky third phase qualifying section, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly