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Group A

This initial fixture at the iconic Azteca venue will mirror the opener from 2010, when South Africa drew 1-1 with El Tri. The Mexican team's knockout stage record at the worldwide showpiece includes just a single victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. Their manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that squad and will be aiming for a third-ever quarter-final appearance as tournament hosts. The South African side, coached by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial World Cup since hosting, ending above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a win over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an ineligible player.

It will represent South Korea's 11th successive finals appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and finished third in the Golden Ball voting when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. Hong is now their coach and led them unbeaten through a anything but easy qualifying section. 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.

Group B

The Canadian team have made it for the global finals on two occasions and, while Qatar 2022 yielded their maiden finals goal, it did not deliver their first-ever point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of probably the most talented group of players in their history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How favorable the group appears hinges mostly on whether the Italian national team make it through the European playoff (the other 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 past five tournaments and were last-eight participants 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, boast individuals aiming to feature at their fourth World Cups. The Qatari team, having ended up in fourth in their third phase qualifying group, were handed a significant boost by being chosen as a host for the fourth phase and clinched progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is drawn exclusively from the domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland's first World Cup in 28 years bears a lot like their last appearance, when they were defeated to Brazil and Morocco; the Haitian team occupy the place of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the knockout phase for the very first time after 8 prior group phase exits. Haiti’s sole previous World Cup, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats than for the fate that happened to 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 manager in a qualifying campaign that featured a run of three consecutive defeats, but there is little jeopardy in South American qualification these days. He has overseen a noticeable improvement. Last-four participants 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 win record.

Pool D

Early last year, the United States seemed in a dismal state, 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 apparently begun to get his ideas across and in November the USA beat Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will begin against the Paraguayan side, who are competing in their sixth World Cup. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has resulted to both group-stage eliminations and a last-eight 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 team and their squad is without clear superstars, but in spite of an iffy start to the third round of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their final two fixtures. The group’s fourth team will come from the winner of the European Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

After back-to-back group phase exits, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more progressive style has introduced a fragility and the draw initially looked like posing a huge test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the revelations of qualification, finishing 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, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, let in a paltry five.

Côte d’Ivoire live in a state of constant 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, manager Emerse Faé has proved transformative. After an implausible continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualifying, netting 25 goals and conceding reply.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side perhaps do not possess the star quality of past Dutch generations, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualification, consistently appears a more reliable player with his national side than at domestic level. They open against the Japanese team, who will participate in their eighth successive 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 World Cup appearance by topping a straightforward qualifying group, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as defensive as certain previous Tunisian teams; they had a staggering 14 separate scorers in qualification. 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 repeat of the group stage 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 legacy of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualifying, 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 failed 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 attacking threat, but it was a defensive unit that allowed just twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified unbeaten.

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, 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 lost only once in a tricky third phase qualification section, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially