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Group A

This initial fixture at the historic Azteca venue will echo the opener from 2010, when South Africa drew 1-1 with El Tri. The Mexican team's elimination stage record at the worldwide showpiece features just one victory, secured against Bulgaria when they previously hosted in 1986. Their manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be targeting a third-ever last-eight berth as hosts. South Africa, led by veteran Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first World Cup since hosting, ending above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a victory over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an suspended player.

This will represent South Korea's eleventh straight World Cup qualification. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came third in the Golden Ball voting when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. Hong is now their coach and guided them without a loss through a far from straightforward qualification section. The final team 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.

Pool B

Canada have made it for the World Cup twice and, although Qatar 2022 yielded their first finals goal, it did not bring their first finals point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of probably 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 favorable the draw appears depends largely on whether Italy make it through the European play-off (the other three 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 tournaments and were quarter-finalists at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified unbeaten from arguably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast individuals aiming to play at their fourth World Cups. The Qatari team, having finished in fourth in their third-round qualification group, were handed a significant advantage by being selected as a tournament host for the final phase and clinched qualification with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is selected exclusively from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland's return to the finals in 28 years bears a lot like their previous outing, when they were defeated to Brazil and the Atlas Lions; the Haitian team occupy the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to make it to the elimination phase for the first time after eight previous group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s sole prior World Cup, in 1974, was notable less for their three losses than for the ordeal 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 limited traveling support due to a travel ban involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third manager in a qualification process that featured a run of three successive defeats, but there is little risk in South American qualifying these days. He has overseen a noticeable improvement. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the best of the north African nations, capable both of overwhelming opponents and playing on the counter, qualifying with a perfect record.

Group D

At the start of last year, the United States seemed in a poor condition, suffering defeats 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 message across and in November the USA beat Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will begin against the Paraguayan side, who are playing in their 6th World Cup. They have won one game at each of the prior five, a statistic that has resulted to both group phase exits and a quarter-final place. Their trademark cautious mindset has not changed: they scored 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 despite an shaky beginning to the third phase of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side made it by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their final two matches. The pool's fourth team will come from the winner of Europe’s Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

After successive group-stage exits, Germany are no longer the bogeymen of old. The shift to a more attacking philosophy has brought a fragility and the draw initially looked like presenting a massive test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the revelations of qualifying, finishing in second place behind Argentina in South America. While they netted only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline 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 live in a state of constant declinism, where nothing is ever quite successful as the golden generation of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved transformative. Following an improbable continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualification, scoring 25 goals and conceding none.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side maybe do not possess the galacticos of previous Dutch eras, but they secured qualification unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualification, consistently appears a more reliable player with his country's side than at domestic level. They open against Japan, who will play in their eighth successive finals, and were by far the most dominant of the Asian nations in qualifying, suffering one of their 16 games across the two phases, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side made sure of a third straight World Cup berth by dominating a manageable qualifying section, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are maybe not as defensive as certain previous Tunisian teams; they had a staggering 14 different scorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the European play-off (against Ukraine in the semi-final, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will set up a rematch of the group stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

The Belgian Red Devils and Egypt are emerging from the legacy of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualifying, scoring the net eight times but conceding five in two wins over Wales, scoring easily 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 qualify during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully fulfilled their potential on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defence that allowed only twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified unbeaten.

A guaranteed place for Oceania effectively meant a spot at the finals for the All Whites, who sailed 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 secured their place in North America next summer. Iran, who were defeated only once in a difficult third phase qualifying group, are on a travel ban, potentially