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Pool A

The initial match at the famous Azteca Stadium will echo the first game from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with El Tri. The Mexican team's elimination stage record at the worldwide showpiece includes just a single win, secured 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 hosts. The South African side, coached by experienced Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, qualified for their first finals since hosting, ending above Nigeria and Benin despite having a win over Lesotho given against them for fielding an ineligible footballer.

It will represent Korea Republic's 11th consecutive finals appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and came in third place in the Golden Ball award when South Korea reached the semi-final in 2002. He is now their coach and led them unbeaten through a anything but straightforward qualifying group. The fourth side in Group A will be the winner of a European qualifying play-off featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

The Canadian team have qualified for the global finals twice and, while Qatar 2022 brought their maiden finals goal, it did not deliver their first finals point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of arguably the best squad in their nation's history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How favorable the draw appears depends largely on whether Italy make it through the UEFA play-off (the other 3 teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After 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 past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified unbeaten from probably the easiest of the UEFA groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players aiming to feature at their fourth finals. Qatar, having finished in fourth in their third-round qualification group, were handed a significant advantage by being chosen as a tournament host for the final round and clinched progress with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is drawn entirely from the domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland's return to the World Cup in 28 years bears a lot like their last appearance, when they lost to the Seleção and Morocco; the Haitian team occupy the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the elimination phase for the very first time after eight prior group-stage exits. Haiti’s sole prior finals, in 1974, was notable less for their three defeats than for the fate that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a drugs test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have limited away support due to a travel ban involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third coach in a qualification process that included a streak of three successive losses, but there is little risk in South American qualifying 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, capable both of dominating rivals 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 state, suffering defeats to Panama and Canada in the Concacaf Nations League and to Turkey and Switzerland in friendlies. But over the last year, Mauricio Pochettino has apparently 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 competing in their sixth finals. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a record that has resulted to both group phase eliminations and a quarter-final appearance. Their familiar cautious approach has not altered: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australia side and their roster lacks clear superstars, but in spite of an shaky beginning to the third phase of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side made it by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their last two matches. The pool's fourth team will emerge from the winner of the European playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following successive group-stage eliminations, Germany are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more attacking style has introduced a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like posing a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualifying, finishing second behind Argentina in South America. Although they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline including Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, protected by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, let in a paltry five.

Ivory Coast exist in a state of constant pessimism, where nothing is ever quite 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 transformative. Following an implausible continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualification, scoring 25 goals without reply.

The tiniest country ever to reach the finals, Curaçao, were the fourth team drawn, however, making the group look a lot far less intimidating than it could have appeared.

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side perhaps lack the star quality of past Dutch generations, but they secured qualification unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, always looks a more reliable player with his country's side than at club level. They begin against the Japanese team, who will play in their 8th successive World Cup, and were by far the most impressive of the Asian nations in qualifying, suffering one of their 16 games over the two phases, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side secured of a third straight World Cup appearance by topping a manageable qualifying section, picking up 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as defensive as certain previous Tunisian teams; they had a staggering 14 separate goalscorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the European playoff (against Ukraine in the semi, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will set up a repeat of the group stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

The Belgian Red Devils and the Pharaohs are emerging from the legacy of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualification, finding 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 failed to qualify during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite fulfilled their potential on the world stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defensive unit that allowed only twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified unbeaten.

A reserved place for Oceania effectively meant a spot at the finals for the All Whites, who sailed through qualification, winning five games out of five, scoring 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. Iran, who were defeated only once in a difficult third-round qualifying section, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially