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Group A

The initial fixture at the famous Azteca venue will echo the opener from 2010, when South Africa drew 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's knockout phase record at the global showpiece includes just a single victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that team and will be aiming for a third-ever quarter-final berth as hosts. South Africa, coached by veteran Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, qualified for their first finals since they hosted, ending above Nigeria and Benin despite having a victory over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an suspended footballer.

This will represent South Korea's 11th straight finals qualification. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came third in the Best Player award when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. Hong is now their manager and led them unbeaten through a anything but easy qualification section. The final team in Group A will be the victor of a UEFA 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 twice and, while Qatar 2022 brought their first finals goal, it did not bring their first point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of probably the best squad in their history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which favorable the group looks depends largely on whether the Italian national team progress through the UEFA play-off (the other three teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have got through the group stage in four of the past five tournaments 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 qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have individuals hoping to feature at their fourth World Cups. The Qatari team, having ended up fourth in their third-round qualification section, were handed a significant boost 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 squad is selected exclusively from the domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland first finals in 28 years looks a lot like their previous appearance, when they were defeated to the Seleção and Morocco; the Haitian team take the spot of Norway. Their primary objective will be to make it to the knockout phase for the first time after eight previous group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s only prior finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats 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 sent back. 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 process that featured a run of three successive losses, but there is minimal jeopardy in South American qualifying these days. He has presided over a noticeable upturn in form. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the best of the north African sides, capable both of dominating opponents and playing on the counter, securing qualification with a 100% win record.

Pool D

At the start of last year, the USA seemed in a poor condition, 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 apparently begun to get his ideas across and in November the USA beat Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will begin against Paraguay, who are competing in their 6th finals. They have secured one game at each of the prior five, a statistic that has led to both group-stage exits and a quarter-final place. Their familiar defensive mindset hasn't changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australia side and their roster is without clear stars, but despite an shaky start to the third round of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side made it by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their last two fixtures. The pool's final team will emerge from the winner of Europe’s playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

After back-to-back group phase exits, Germany are no longer the bogeymen of old. The shift to a more progressive style has brought a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like posing a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the surprise package of qualifying, ending up in second place behind Argentina in South America. While 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 paltry five.

Côte d’Ivoire exist in a state of permanent pessimism, where nothing is ever as 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 inspirational. Following an implausible continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualifying, netting 25 goals and conceding none.

The smallest country ever to reach the finals, the Curaçao team, were the final team drawn, however, making the group look a lot far less daunting than it could have been.

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side perhaps do not possess the galacticos of previous Dutch eras, but they secured qualification without losing and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, always looks a more reliable player with his national side than at domestic level. They begin against the Japanese team, who will play in their eighth consecutive finals, and were by far 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 straight finals berth by topping a manageable qualifying group, picking up 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are perhaps not as dour as some previous Tunisian teams; they had a staggering 14 different scorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the European playoff (against Ukraine in the semi-final, 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 executed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

Belgium and the Pharaohs are emerging from the legacy of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualifying, finding the net eight times but conceding five in two wins over Wales, finding goals freely 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 qualify 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 cutting edge, but it was a defence that conceded only twice in 10 games that meant they qualified undefeated.

A guaranteed place for Oceania effectively equated to a spot at the finals for the All Whites, who sailed 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 secured their place in North America next summer. Iran, who lost once in a tricky third phase qualifying section, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly