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Group A

This first game at the famous Azteca venue will replay the opener from 2010, when Bafana Bafana drew 1-1 with Mexico. Mexico's elimination phase record at the global showpiece includes just one win, achieved against Bulgaria when they previously were hosts in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be aiming for a third quarter-final berth as tournament hosts. The South African side, led by experienced Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, qualified for their first finals since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin even after having a victory over Lesotho given against them for fielding an suspended footballer.

It will mark South Korea's eleventh successive World Cup qualification. Legend Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and came third in the Best Player award when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. Hong is now their coach and led them without a loss through a anything but easy qualification group. The final team in Group A will be the winner of a European playoff involving 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, while Qatar 2022 brought their first 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 key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How kind the group looks hinges largely on whether Italy progress through the UEFA play-off (the other 3 teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have navigated the initial phase in four of the past five tournaments and were last-eight participants at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified unbeaten from probably the most straightforward of the UEFA groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players hoping to play at their fourth finals. Qatar, having finished fourth in their third-round qualifying section, were given a major boost by being chosen as a tournament host for the fourth phase 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 first finals in 28 years bears a lot like their previous appearance, when they were defeated to Brazil and the Atlas Lions; the Haitian team occupy the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the elimination stage for the very first time after eight prior group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s only prior finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three losses than for the ordeal that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a doping test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have restricted away support due to a travel ban from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third coach in a qualification campaign that featured a streak of three successive defeats, but there is little jeopardy in South American qualifying these days. He has presided over a clear improvement. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the strongest of the north African sides, able both of overwhelming opponents and playing on the counter-attack, qualifying with a perfect win record.

Group 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 past 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 Paraguay, who are playing in their 6th finals. They have won one game at each of the prior five, a statistic that has resulted to both group phase exits and a last-eight appearance. Their familiar cautious approach has not changed: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most free-flowing Australian team and their roster lacks clear stars, but in spite of an iffy start to the third round of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side made it by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their last two matches. The group’s final team will come from the victor of the European playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

After back-to-back group phase eliminations, Germany are no longer the feared force of old. The shift to a more progressive style has brought a vulnerability and the group initially looked like presenting a huge test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualifying, finishing second 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, protected by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a paltry five.

Ivory Coast exist in a state of permanent pessimism, where nothing is ever as successful 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 inspirational. Following an implausible continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualifying, scoring 25 goals without none.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe do not possess the galacticos of previous Dutch generations, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, always looks a more effective performer with his country's side than at domestic level. They begin against Japan, who will play in their 8th consecutive finals, and were by some way the most dominant of the Asian nations in qualification, suffering one of their 16 games over the two phases, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia secured of a third consecutive finals berth by dominating a straightforward qualification section, picking up 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as defensive as some past Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 separate goalscorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the UEFA play-off (against Ukraine in the semi-final, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will create a repeat of the group stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Group G

Belgium and Egypt are emerging from the legacy of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualification, scoring the net eight times but conceding five in two wins over Wales, finding goals easily 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 reach the finals during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite fulfilled their potential on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defensive unit that conceded only twice in 10 games that meant they qualified unbeaten.

A reserved place for Oceania effectively meant a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who cruised 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 only once in a difficult third-round qualification group, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly