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Group A

The first match at the iconic Azteca venue will mirror the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with El Tri. The Mexican team's elimination phase history at the global tournament includes just a single victory, secured against Bulgaria when they previously hosted in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be aiming for a third quarter-final berth as hosts. South Africa, coached by veteran Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial finals since they hosted, ending above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a win over Lesotho given against them for fielding an ineligible player.

This will represent Korea Republic's eleventh successive World Cup appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came third in the Golden Ball award when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. He is now their coach and guided them unbeaten through a far from easy qualification section. The fourth side in Group A will be the victor of a European playoff involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

Canada have qualified for the global finals on two occasions and, while Qatar 2022 yielded their maiden finals goal, it did not deliver their first-ever point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of arguably the best squad in their history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which kind the group appears hinges largely on whether Italy progress through the UEFA playoff (the remaining three contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have navigated 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 without defeat from probably the most straightforward of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast individuals hoping to feature at their fourth finals. Qatar, having ended up fourth in their third phase qualification group, were handed a significant advantage by being chosen as a tournament host for the fourth round and secured progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is selected exclusively from the domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland first finals in 28 years bears a lot like their last outing, when they were defeated to Brazil and Morocco; Haiti occupy the spot of Norway. Their primary objective will be to make it to the knockout stage for the first time after eight prior group-stage exits. Haiti’s only previous finals, in 1974, was remembered 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 restricted away support due to a travel ban from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third coach in a qualification campaign that included a streak of three successive losses, but there is minimal risk in South American qualifying these days. He has overseen a noticeable improvement. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the strongest of the north African nations, capable both of overwhelming opponents and playing on the counter, securing qualification with a perfect record.

Pool D

At the start of 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 ideas understood and in November the USA beat Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will start against Paraguay, who are playing in their 6th World Cup. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has resulted to both group phase exits and a quarter-final appearance. Their trademark defensive mindset has not changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most fluent Australian side and their roster is without obvious stars, but in spite of an iffy beginning to the third round of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side made it by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their last two matches. The group’s final team will come from the winner of Europe’s Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following back-to-back group-stage exits, Germany are no longer the feared force of old. The shift to a more progressive philosophy has introduced a fragility and the group initially looked like presenting a massive test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the revelations of qualifying, ending up second behind Argentina in South America. Although 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 paltry five.

Ivory Coast exist in a state of permanent pessimism, where nothing is ever quite 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 transformative. After an improbable continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualifying, scoring 25 goals without reply.

The tiniest country ever to reach the finals, the Curaçao team, were the fourth team picked, though, making the group look a lot less intimidating than it might have appeared.

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe lack the galacticos of past Dutch eras, but they secured qualification without losing and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, always looks a more effective player with his national side than at domestic level. They open against Japan, who will participate in their 8th consecutive finals, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian sides in qualifying, 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 appearance by topping a straightforward qualifying group, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are maybe not as dour as certain previous Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 different goalscorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the UEFA 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 performed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

Belgium and the Pharaohs are emerging from the shadow of their most talented 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 not managed to reach the finals 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 unbeaten.

A guaranteed place for Oceania effectively equated to a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who cruised through qualification, winning five games out of five, netting 29 goals, nine of them by Chris Wood, but they are the lowest FIFA-ranked side to have secured their place in North America next summer. Iran, who lost only once in a difficult third-round qualification group, are on a travel ban, possibly