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Pool A

The opening game at the iconic Azteca Stadium will replay the opener from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's knockout stage history at the worldwide showpiece features just a single win, secured against Bulgaria when they previously were hosts in 1986. Their coach, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that squad and will be aiming for a third quarter-final appearance as tournament hosts. The South African side, coached by experienced Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first World Cup since they hosted, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a win over Lesotho given against them for using an ineligible player.

This will mark Korea Republic's eleventh successive World Cup qualification. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came in third place in the Best Player voting when South Korea reached the semi-final in 2002. Hong is now their coach and guided them without a loss through a far from easy qualifying section. The fourth side in Group A will be the victor of a UEFA playoff featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

Canada have made it for the global finals on two occasions and, although Qatar 2022 brought their first finals goal, it did not bring their first-ever finals point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of arguably the best group of players in their nation's history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which kind the group appears hinges mostly on whether the Italian national team make it through the UEFA playoff (the other 3 contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss 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, have individuals hoping to feature at their fourth finals. Qatar, having ended up in fourth in their third phase qualification group, were handed a significant boost by being selected as a tournament host for the final phase and clinched progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is drawn entirely from the Qatari league.

Pool C

Scotland return to the finals in 28 years looks a lot like their last outing, when they lost to Brazil and Morocco; the Haitian team occupy the spot 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 notable less for their three defeats than for the fate that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a drugs test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have limited traveling support due to a travel ban from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third manager in a qualifying process that included a run of three successive defeats, but there is minimal risk 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, qualifying with a perfect record.

Pool D

Early last year, the USA 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 seemingly begun to get his message across and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will begin against the Paraguayan side, who are competing in their 6th finals. They have won one game at each of the prior five, a record that has resulted to both group phase eliminations and a quarter-final place. Their trademark cautious mindset has not altered: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most free-flowing Australia side and their squad lacks obvious stars, but despite an iffy start to the third round 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 fixtures. The group’s final team will come from the victor of the European Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

Following successive group-stage exits, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more progressive philosophy has introduced a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like presenting a huge test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualifying, ending up second behind Argentina in South America. Although 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, conceded a paltry five.

Côte d’Ivoire exist in a state of constant declinism, where nothing is ever quite good as the glorious generation of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved transformative. Following an implausible continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualification, scoring 25 goals without reply.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side perhaps lack the star quality of previous Dutch eras, but they qualified without losing and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualification, consistently appears a more reliable performer with his country's side than at domestic level. They open against the Japanese team, who will participate in their 8th consecutive World Cup, and were by some way the most dominant of the Asian sides in qualification, suffering one of their 16 games across the two phases, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia secured of a third straight World Cup berth by dominating a straightforward qualifying section, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are maybe not as dour as some past Tunisian teams; they had a staggering 14 separate scorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the European play-off (against Ukraine in the semi, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will create a repeat of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first executed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Group G

Belgium and Egypt are moving on from the shadow of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualifying, finding the net eight times but conceding 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 failed to qualify during their peak period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite fulfilled their potential on the world stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them attacking threat, but it was a defensive unit that allowed only twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified undefeated.

A guaranteed place for Oceania effectively meant a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who sailed 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 secured their place in North America next summer. Team Melli, who lost once in a tricky third-round qualification group, are on a travel ban, potentially