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Group A

This first fixture at the historic Azteca Stadium will replay the first game from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's knockout stage history at the worldwide showpiece features just one victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that team and will be targeting a third-ever quarter-final berth as tournament hosts. South Africa, coached by veteran Belgian manager Hugo Broos, qualified for their first World Cup since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin even after having a win over Lesotho given against them for using an suspended player.

It will mark Korea Republic's eleventh straight World Cup appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came in third place in the Best Player award when South Korea made the semi-final in 2002. Hong is now their manager and led them without a loss through a anything but straightforward qualifying section. The final side in Group A will be the victor of a European qualifying play-off featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

The Canadian team have made it for the World Cup twice and, while Qatar 2022 brought their maiden goal, it did not deliver their first finals point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of probably the best squad in their history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which kind the draw appears depends largely on whether the Italian national team progress through the UEFA playoff (the remaining 3 contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have navigated the initial phase in four of the last five World Cups and were quarter-finalists at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified without defeat from arguably the most straightforward of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have individuals hoping to play at their fourth finals. Qatar, having finished fourth in their third phase qualification group, were handed a significant advantage by being chosen as a tournament host for the final round and secured qualification with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is drawn entirely from the Qatari league.

Group C

Scotland's return to the finals in 28 years looks a lot like their previous outing, when they were defeated to Brazil and the Atlas Lions; the Haitian team take the spot of Norway. Their aim will be to make it to the elimination phase for the first time after 8 prior group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s sole previous World Cup, in 1974, was notable less for their three losses than for the fate that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a drugs test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have restricted away support due to travel restrictions involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third coach in a qualifying process that featured a streak of three consecutive losses, but there is little risk in South American qualification these days. He has presided over a noticeable improvement. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the strongest of the north African nations, capable both of dominating opponents and playing on the counter-attack, qualifying with a 100% win record.

Pool 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 friendly matches. But over the last year, Mauricio Pochettino has apparently begun to get his message understood and in November the USA beat 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 statistic that has led to both group phase exits and a last-eight appearance. Their familiar defensive approach has not changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most free-flowing Australian side and their squad lacks obvious stars, but despite an iffy start to the third phase of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their final two fixtures. The group’s fourth team will come from the victor of Europe’s Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following successive group-stage exits, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The shift to a more progressive philosophy has introduced a fragility and the group initially looked like posing a huge test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualification, ending up in second place behind Argentina in South America. Although they netted only 14 goals in 18 games, a defence including Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a mere five.

Ivory Coast live in a state of permanent declinism, where nothing is ever quite good as the golden squad of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Emerse Faé has proved transformative. After an implausible continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualification, netting 25 goals and conceding none.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side perhaps do not possess the star quality of previous Dutch generations, but they qualified without losing and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualification, consistently appears a more effective player with his national side than at club level. They begin against the Japanese team, who will participate in their 8th consecutive finals, and were by some way the most dominant of the Asian nations in qualifying, losing one of their 16 games over the two groups, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side secured of a third straight World Cup appearance by topping a straightforward qualifying section, picking up 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as defensive as some previous Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 different goalscorers 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 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 golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualification, 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 football history, but having failed to reach the finals during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully done themselves justice on the world 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 sailed through qualification, winning five games out of five, netting 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 were defeated once in a tricky third-round qualifying section, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly