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Pool A

This initial fixture at the famous Azteca venue will replay the opener from 2010, when Bafana Bafana drew 1-1 with Mexico. Mexico's knockout phase record at the worldwide tournament features just a single victory, secured against Bulgaria when they last were hosts in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that squad and will be aiming for a third-ever last-eight appearance as hosts. The South African side, led by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial finals since hosting, ending above Nigeria and Benin despite having a win over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an suspended player.

This will represent South Korea's eleventh straight finals qualification. Legend Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and came in third place in the Best Player voting when South Korea made the last four in 2002. Hong is now their manager and guided them without a loss through a anything but straightforward qualification section. 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

Canada have qualified for the global finals twice and, although Qatar 2022 brought their maiden finals goal, it did not deliver their first finals point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of probably the most talented group of players in their nation's history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How kind the draw appears depends largely on whether the Italian national team progress through the European play-off (the remaining 3 teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have navigated the initial phase in four of the last five World Cups and were quarter-finalists at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket unbeaten from arguably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players aiming to play at their fourth finals. The Qatari team, having ended up fourth in their third-round qualification group, were given a major boost by being selected as a tournament host for the final round and secured progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is selected entirely from the Qatari league.

Group C

Scotland return to the World Cup in 28 years looks a lot like their previous appearance, when they lost to Brazil and the Atlas Lions; Haiti take the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to make it to the knockout phase for the very first time after 8 previous group phase exits. Haiti’s only prior finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats 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 sent back. They will have restricted away support due to travel restrictions from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third coach in a qualification campaign that included a streak of three consecutive losses, but there is little risk in South American qualifying these days. He has presided over a clear improvement. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the strongest of the north African sides, able both of dominating rivals and playing on the counter-attack, securing qualification with a 100% win record.

Pool 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 apparently begun to get his ideas across and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will begin against Paraguay, who are playing in their 6th finals. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a record that has led to both group phase eliminations and a last-eight appearance. Their trademark cautious approach hasn't 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 superstars, but in spite of an shaky beginning to the third round 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 matches. The pool's fourth team will come from the winner of Europe’s Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

Following back-to-back group phase eliminations, Germany are no longer the bogeymen of old. The shift to a more progressive style has brought a fragility and the group initially looked like presenting a massive test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualifying, ending up second behind Argentina in South America. Although they netted only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline featuring Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, protected by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, let in a paltry five.

Côte d’Ivoire exist in a state of permanent declinism, where nothing is ever quite good as the glorious squad of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. After an implausible continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, scoring 25 goals and conceding none.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side maybe do not possess the star quality of past Dutch eras, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, always appears a more effective player with his national side than at club level. They open against Japan, who will play in their 8th consecutive World Cup, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian nations in qualification, losing one of their 16 games over the two phases, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia secured of a third straight finals 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 sides; they had a staggering 14 different scorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the UEFA playoff (against Ukraine in the semi-final, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will set up a rematch of the group stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first executed the famous 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 erratic in qualification, scoring the net eight times but letting in five in two wins over Wales, finding goals freely 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 quite fulfilled their potential on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defensive unit that conceded only twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified undefeated.

A guaranteed place for Oceania effectively meant 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 booked their place in North America next summer. Team Melli, who lost once in a difficult third phase qualification group, are on a travel ban, potentially