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Group A

This first fixture at the famous Azteca Stadium will echo the opener from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with Mexico. Mexico's elimination phase record at the global tournament features just a single victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they previously hosted in 1986. Their coach, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that squad and will be targeting a third-ever last-eight appearance as hosts. South Africa, led by veteran Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, qualified for their initial finals since they hosted, ending above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a win over Lesotho given against them for fielding an suspended footballer.

This will represent South Korea's eleventh successive finals qualification. Icon Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and came in third place in the Best Player voting when South Korea reached the semi-final in 2002. He is now their coach and guided them unbeaten through a anything but easy qualification section. The fourth team 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.

Group B

Canada have made it for the global finals on two occasions and, although Qatar 2022 yielded their maiden finals goal, it did not deliver their first finals point. Jesse Marsch is the manager 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 looks hinges mostly on whether the Italian national team progress through the European play-off (the remaining 3 contenders 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 tournaments and were quarter-finalists at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket without defeat from arguably the easiest of the UEFA groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players hoping to play at their fourth World Cups. Qatar, having finished in fourth in their third phase qualifying section, were handed a major advantage by being selected as a host for the final phase and secured qualification with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is drawn entirely from the Qatari league.

Pool C

Scotland's return to the finals in 28 years looks a lot like their previous outing, when they lost to Brazil and the Atlas Lions; the Haitian team take the spot of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the elimination stage for the very first time after 8 previous group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s only previous World Cup, in 1974, was notable less for their three defeats than for the fate that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a doping test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have restricted away support due to a travel ban involving the USA.

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

Pool D

Early last year, the United States 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 last year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his ideas understood and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will begin against the Paraguayan side, who are playing in their 6th World Cup. They have won one game at each of the prior five, a statistic that has resulted to both group-stage exits and a quarter-final appearance. Their trademark defensive mindset hasn't altered: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most free-flowing Australian side and their roster is without obvious superstars, but despite an iffy beginning 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 matches. The group’s final team will come from the victor of Europe’s Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

Following successive group-stage exits, Germany are no longer the feared force of old. The shift to a more attacking philosophy has introduced a vulnerability and the group initially looked like presenting a massive challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the surprise package of qualification, finishing second behind Argentina in South America. While they netted only 14 goals in 18 games, a defence featuring Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, shielded 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 squad of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved transformative. Following an improbable continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualifying, netting 25 goals and conceding reply.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe lack the star quality of past Dutch eras, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualification, always looks a more reliable player with his country's side than at domestic level. They open against Japan, who will play in their 8th consecutive finals, and were by some way the most dominant of the Asian sides in qualification, suffering one of their 16 games over the two groups, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia made sure of a third consecutive finals appearance by topping a manageable qualification section, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as defensive as some previous Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 different goalscorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the UEFA play-off (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.

Group G

Belgium and Egypt are moving on from the legacy of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, finding the net eight times but conceding five in two wins over Wales, finding goals easily at times, but also laboring to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most successful side in African history, but having failed to reach the finals during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully done themselves justice on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defensive unit that allowed just twice in 10 games that meant they qualified unbeaten.

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, netting 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-round qualifying group, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially