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Pool A

The opening game at the iconic Azteca venue will echo the opener from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with Mexico. Mexico's elimination phase record at the worldwide tournament includes just a single win, achieved against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be aiming for a third last-eight berth as 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 seeing a win over Lesotho given against them for fielding an ineligible footballer.

It will mark Korea Republic's eleventh successive World Cup qualification. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished in third place in the Golden Ball voting when South Korea made the semi-final in 2002. He is now their coach and led them without a loss through a anything but straightforward qualifying group. The fourth team in Group A will be the victor of a European playoff involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

Canada have qualified for the global finals twice and, while Qatar 2022 brought their first goal, it did not deliver their first point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of probably the best group of players in their nation's history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How kind the group appears depends largely on whether the Italian national team progress through the European playoff (the remaining 3 teams 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 booked their ticket without defeat from arguably the easiest of the UEFA groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players aiming to play at their fourth finals. Qatar, having finished fourth in their third phase qualification group, were handed a significant advantage by being selected as a host for the final phase and secured qualification with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is selected exclusively from the Qatari league.

Pool C

Scotland's first World Cup in 28 years looks a lot like their last appearance, when they were defeated to Brazil and Morocco; the Haitian team take the spot of Norway. Their primary objective will be to make it to the knockout stage for the first time after eight previous group phase exits. Haiti’s only previous World Cup, in 1974, was remembered less for their three losses than for the ordeal that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a drugs test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have limited away support due to travel restrictions from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third manager in a qualification campaign that included a run of three successive losses, but there is minimal risk in South American qualification these days. He has presided over a clear upturn in form. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the best of the north African sides, able both of overwhelming opponents and playing on the counter-attack, qualifying with a 100% record.

Group D

Early last year, the United States seemed in a poor state, losing to Panama and Canada in the Concacaf Nations League and to Turkey and Switzerland in friendly matches. But over the past 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 begin against the Paraguayan side, who are playing in their 6th finals. They have secured one game at each of the prior five, a record that has resulted to both group phase eliminations and a quarter-final appearance. Their familiar 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 Australian side and their roster is without clear stars, but in spite of an iffy beginning to the third phase of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side made it by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their last two fixtures. The group’s fourth team will emerge from the victor of Europe’s playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

After back-to-back group phase eliminations, Die Mannschaft 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, ending up second behind Argentina in South America. Although they scored 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 mere five.

Ivory Coast live in a state of permanent pessimism, where nothing is ever as successful 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 inspirational. Following an improbable continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualifying, scoring 25 goals and conceding reply.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe do not possess the star quality of previous Dutch eras, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualification, always looks a more reliable performer with his country's side than at club level. They open against Japan, who will play in their 8th successive World Cup, and were by some way the most dominant of the Asian nations in qualifying, suffering one of their 16 games across the two phases, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia made sure of a third consecutive World Cup berth by dominating a manageable qualifying section, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are perhaps not as defensive as certain past Tunisian teams; they had a staggering 14 different goalscorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the UEFA playoff (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 executed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

The Belgian Red Devils and Egypt are moving on from the shadow of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, scoring the net eight times but letting in 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 qualify during their peak period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite 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 meant they qualified undefeated.

A guaranteed place for Oceania effectively equated to 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 were defeated once in a difficult third-round qualifying group, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly