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Group A

This first game at the iconic Azteca venue will replay the opener from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's knockout stage record at the worldwide tournament features just a single win, secured against Bulgaria when they previously hosted in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that squad and will be targeting a third-ever quarter-final appearance as tournament hosts. The South African side, led by veteran Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, qualified for their initial World Cup since hosting, ending above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a victory over Lesotho awarded against them for using an suspended player.

It will represent Korea Republic's eleventh consecutive finals qualification. Icon 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 guided them unbeaten through a anything but straightforward qualifying group. The final side in Group A will be the victor of a European qualifying play-off featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

The Canadian team have made it for the World Cup on two occasions and, although Qatar 2022 yielded their first goal, it did not deliver their first-ever finals point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of probably the best squad in their history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How favorable the group looks hinges largely on whether the Italian national team make it through the European playoff (the other three contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have got through the initial phase in four of the past five World Cups and were quarter-finalists at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket without defeat from probably the easiest of the UEFA groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast individuals aiming to feature at their fourth finals. Qatar, having ended up in fourth in their third phase qualifying section, were handed a major advantage by being chosen as a host for the fourth phase and secured progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected entirely from the Qatari league.

Pool C

Scotland's first finals in 28 years looks a lot like their last outing, when they were defeated 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 previous group phase exits. Haiti’s sole prior World Cup, in 1974, was notable less for their three losses than for the fate that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a doping test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have limited traveling support due to a travel ban from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third manager in a qualifying process that featured a run of three consecutive losses, but there is minimal risk in South American qualification these days. He has overseen a clear improvement. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the strongest of the north African nations, able both of overwhelming rivals and playing on the counter-attack, securing qualification with a 100% win record.

Group 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 friendly matches. But over the last year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his message across and in November the USA beat Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will start against Paraguay, who are competing in their sixth World Cup. They have won one game at each of the prior five, a statistic that has led to both group phase exits and a last-eight place. Their trademark defensive approach has not changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australian team 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 beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their final two fixtures. The pool's final team will come from the victor of Europe’s playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

After back-to-back group phase exits, Germany are no longer the feared force of old. The shift to a more attacking philosophy has brought a fragility and the group initially looked like presenting a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualification, ending up in second place behind Argentina in South America. While they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a defence including Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, protected by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a paltry five.

Côte d’Ivoire live in a state of constant declinism, where nothing is ever as 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 transformative. Following an improbable continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualifying, netting 25 goals without reply.

The tiniest country ever to qualify, Curaçao, were the fourth team picked, however, 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 past Dutch eras, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, always appears a more effective player with his national side than at domestic level. They begin against the Japanese team, who will play in their 8th consecutive finals, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian nations in qualifying, suffering one of their 16 games over the two groups, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side secured of a third consecutive finals appearance by topping a straightforward qualifying group, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are maybe not as dour as some previous Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 different goalscorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the European play-off (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 performed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Group 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, scoring freely at times, but also laboring to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most decorated 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 world stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them attacking threat, but it was a defence that conceded just twice in 10 games that meant they qualified undefeated.

A reserved place for Oceania effectively meant a spot at the finals for New Zealand, 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. Iran, who lost only once in a difficult third-round qualifying section, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially