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Group A

This initial match at the historic Azteca Stadium will mirror the opener from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's elimination stage record at the worldwide showpiece includes just a single victory, secured against Bulgaria when they last were hosts in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that squad and will be aiming for a third quarter-final berth as hosts. The South African side, coached by veteran Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial finals since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin even after having a win over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an suspended player.

This will mark South Korea's eleventh straight World Cup appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished third in the Golden Ball voting when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. He is now their coach and guided them unbeaten through a anything but easy qualifying section. The final team in Group A will be the victor of a European playoff featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

The Canadian team have made it for the World Cup on two occasions and, while Qatar 2022 yielded their maiden finals goal, it did not bring their first-ever finals point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of arguably the most talented group of players in their history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which kind the draw looks hinges mostly on whether the Italian national team make it through the European play-off (the remaining 3 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 World Cups and were last-eight participants at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket unbeaten from probably the most straightforward of the UEFA groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast individuals hoping to play at their fourth World Cups. Qatar, having ended up fourth in their third-round qualifying group, were given a major advantage by being chosen as a tournament host for the final phase and clinched qualification with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected entirely from the domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland's first World Cup in 28 years bears a lot like their previous outing, when they lost to the Seleção and Morocco; Haiti occupy the place of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the elimination stage for the very first time after eight prior group-stage exits. Haiti’s only previous World Cup, in 1974, was remembered less for their three losses than for the fate that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a drugs test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have restricted away support due to travel restrictions from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third manager in a qualifying process that featured a streak of three consecutive defeats, but there is minimal risk in South American qualifying these days. He has presided over a clear upturn in form. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the strongest of the north African nations, capable both of overwhelming rivals and playing on the counter, securing qualification with a perfect win record.

Group D

Early last year, the USA 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 past year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his message understood and in November the USA beat Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will begin against the Paraguayan side, who are playing in their sixth World Cup. They have secured one game at each of the prior five, a statistic that has resulted to both group phase exits and a quarter-final place. Their familiar defensive approach has not altered: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australian side and their squad lacks clear superstars, but despite an iffy beginning to the third round of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their last two matches. The pool's final team will come from the winner of the European Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following successive group-stage eliminations, Die Mannschaft are no longer the feared force of old. The transition to a more attacking philosophy has introduced a fragility and the draw initially looked like presenting a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualification, 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, conceded a mere five.

Côte d’Ivoire live in a state of permanent pessimism, where nothing is ever quite good 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 inspirational. Following an implausible continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualifying, scoring 25 goals without reply.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side perhaps lack the galacticos of previous Dutch eras, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualification, consistently looks a more effective performer with his national side than at domestic level. They begin against the Japanese team, who will play in their eighth successive World Cup, and were by far the most dominant of the Asian sides in qualifying, losing one of their 16 games across the two groups, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side secured of a third consecutive World Cup berth by dominating a straightforward qualifying section, picking up 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as defensive as some past Tunisian sides; they had a remarkable 14 different scorers in qualification. 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 create a repeat of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

The Belgian Red Devils and Egypt are emerging from the shadow of golden 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 struggling to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most successful side in African football history, but having not managed to reach the finals during their peak period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully done themselves justice on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them attacking threat, but it was a defence that allowed only twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified undefeated.

A reserved place for Oceania essentially equated to a spot at the finals for the All Whites, who cruised through qualification, winning five games out of five, scoring 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. Team Melli, who were defeated once in a tricky third phase qualifying group, are on a travel ban, possibly