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Group A

The opening fixture at the iconic Azteca Stadium will replay the first game from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's knockout phase history at the global showpiece includes just a single victory, secured against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be aiming for a third quarter-final berth as hosts. The South African side, coached by veteran Belgian manager Hugo Broos, qualified for their first finals since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a win over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an suspended footballer.

This will mark Korea Republic's eleventh consecutive World Cup appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and finished third in the Best Player award when South Korea made the last four in 2002. Hong is now their manager and led them unbeaten through a far from straightforward qualifying section. The fourth side in Group A will be the winner of a European playoff featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

Canada have qualified for the global finals on two occasions and, although Qatar 2022 brought their first goal, it did not bring their first-ever point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of probably the most talented squad in their nation's history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which favorable the group appears hinges mostly on whether Italy make it through the European playoff (the remaining 3 teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have navigated the group stage in four of the last five tournaments and were last-eight participants at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket unbeaten from arguably the easiest of the UEFA groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players aiming to play at their fourth finals. The Qatari team, having ended up in fourth in their third-round qualification section, were handed a major advantage by being chosen as a host for the final round and secured qualification with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is drawn exclusively from the Qatari league.

Group C

Scotland first World Cup in 28 years bears a lot like their last outing, when they lost to Brazil and Morocco; the Haitian team occupy the spot of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the elimination stage for the very first time after 8 prior group phase eliminations. Haiti’s sole previous finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three losses than for the ordeal that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a drugs test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have limited away support due to travel restrictions from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third coach in a qualification campaign that featured a streak of three consecutive defeats, but there is little risk in South American qualification these days. He has presided over a clear improvement. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the strongest of the north African nations, capable both of dominating rivals and playing on the counter, qualifying with a perfect win record.

Group D

Early last year, the United States seemed in a poor state, losing to Panama and Canada in the Concacaf Nations League and to Turkey and Switzerland in friendlies. But over the past year, Mauricio Pochettino has apparently begun to get his message understood and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will begin against Paraguay, who are playing in their 6th finals. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has resulted to both group-stage exits and a last-eight appearance. Their familiar defensive mindset has not changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australia side and their squad lacks obvious superstars, but despite an iffy beginning to the third round of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side made it by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their final two matches. The group’s fourth team will come from the victor of Europe’s playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

After back-to-back group phase eliminations, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more progressive style has brought a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like posing a huge test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualification, ending up second 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 mere five.

Côte d’Ivoire live in a state of constant declinism, where nothing is ever as good as the golden squad of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. After an improbable continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualifying, scoring 25 goals and conceding reply.

The smallest country ever to reach the finals, Curaçao, were the fourth team drawn, though, making the group look a lot less intimidating than it could have appeared.

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe do not possess the galacticos of past Dutch eras, but they secured qualification unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualification, always appears a more reliable player with his country's side than at domestic level. They open against Japan, who will participate in their eighth successive World Cup, and were by some way the most dominant of the Asian sides in qualification, suffering one of their 16 games over the two phases, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side made sure of a third consecutive finals appearance by topping a straightforward qualifying section, picking up 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as defensive as certain past Tunisian teams; they had a staggering 14 separate goalscorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the European playoff (against Ukraine in the semi, 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 performed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Group G

The Belgian Red Devils and Egypt are emerging from the shadow of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualification, finding the net eight times but conceding five in two wins over Wales, finding goals easily at times, but also struggling 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 peak period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully fulfilled their potential on the world stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defence that conceded just twice in 10 games that meant they qualified undefeated.

A reserved place for Oceania essentially meant a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who sailed 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 lost once in a difficult third-round qualification section, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially