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Group A

The initial fixture at the famous Azteca Stadium will replay the first game from 2010, when South Africa drew 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's elimination phase history at the worldwide tournament features just a single win, secured against Bulgaria when they last were hosts in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be aiming for a third quarter-final appearance as tournament hosts. The South African side, coached by experienced Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, qualified for their first World Cup since they hosted, finishing above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a victory over Lesotho given against them for fielding an suspended player.

It will mark South Korea's 11th successive World Cup appearance. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came third in the Best Player voting when South Korea made the last four in 2002. Hong is now their manager and led them unbeaten through a far from easy qualifying section. The fourth side in Group A will be the victor of a European qualifying play-off involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

The Canadian team have made it for the World Cup on two occasions and, while Qatar 2022 yielded their first finals goal, it did not bring their first-ever finals point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of arguably the most talented squad in their nation's history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which favorable the draw appears depends mostly on whether the Italian national team progress through the European playoff (the remaining 3 contenders 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 World Cups and were quarter-finalists at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket without defeat from probably the easiest of the UEFA groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have individuals aiming to play at their fourth World Cups. Qatar, having ended up in fourth in their third phase qualification section, were given a significant advantage by being chosen as a host for the fourth phase and secured progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected entirely from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland's return to the World Cup in 28 years bears a lot like their previous outing, when they lost to the Seleção and Morocco; the Haitian team take the place of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the elimination phase for the first time after 8 previous group phase exits. Haiti’s sole previous World Cup, in 1974, was notable less for their three defeats than for the fate that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a drugs test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have limited traveling support due to travel restrictions from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third coach in a qualifying campaign that featured a streak of three successive losses, but there is little jeopardy in South American qualifying these days. He has presided over a clear improvement. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the best of the north African nations, able both of overwhelming rivals and playing on the counter, securing qualification with a perfect win record.

Group D

At the start of last year, the United States seemed in a dismal state, 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 seemingly begun to get his message across and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will start against the Paraguayan side, who are playing in their sixth finals. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has led to both group phase eliminations and a quarter-final appearance. Their familiar cautious mindset hasn't altered: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most free-flowing Australian side and their roster is without clear superstars, but despite an shaky start to the third phase of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their last two matches. The group’s fourth team will emerge 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 shift to a more attacking philosophy has introduced a vulnerability and the group initially looked like posing a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualification, finishing in second place behind Argentina in South America. While they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline featuring Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a mere five.

Ivory Coast exist in a state of constant pessimism, where nothing is ever as good as the golden squad of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. After an improbable continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualification, scoring 25 goals and conceding reply.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe do not possess the star quality of past Dutch eras, but they secured qualification unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualification, consistently appears a more effective performer with his country's side than at club level. They open against Japan, who will play in their 8th successive finals, and were by far the most impressive of the Asian nations in qualification, 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 finals berth by topping a straightforward qualifying section, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are perhaps not as dour as some previous Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 different goalscorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the UEFA playoff (against Ukraine in the semi-final, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will set up a repeat of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Group G

The Belgian Red Devils and the Pharaohs 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, finding goals easily at times, but also struggling to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most successful side in African history, but having not managed to qualify during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully done themselves justice on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defensive unit that allowed just 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, scoring 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 lost only once in a tricky third-round qualifying group, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly