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Pool A

This initial fixture at the historic Azteca venue will echo the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana drew 1-1 with Mexico. Mexico's elimination phase history at the worldwide showpiece features just one victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they last were hosts in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that squad and will be targeting a third quarter-final appearance as tournament hosts. The South African side, coached by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, qualified for their first World Cup since they hosted, ending above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a win over Lesotho given against them for using an ineligible player.

This will represent Korea Republic's eleventh successive World Cup appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and came third in the Golden Ball award when South Korea made the last four in 2002. Hong is now their manager and guided them without a loss through a far from straightforward qualifying group. The final side in Group A will be the winner of a UEFA 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, while Qatar 2022 brought their first finals goal, it did not bring their first-ever finals point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of probably the best group of players in their nation's history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How favorable the group appears depends mostly on whether Italy progress through the European playoff (the other 3 teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have navigated the group stage in four of the last five tournaments and were last-eight participants at the past 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, boast individuals aiming to feature at their fourth World Cups. Qatar, having finished in fourth in their third phase qualifying group, were given a major boost by being selected as a tournament host for the final phase and secured progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is selected exclusively from the Qatari league.

Group C

Scotland return to the finals in 28 years bears a lot like their previous outing, when they lost to Brazil and the Atlas Lions; the Haitian team occupy the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to make it to the elimination phase for the first time after eight prior group phase exits. Haiti’s only previous finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three losses than for the fate that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a doping test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have restricted away support due to travel restrictions involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third coach in a qualifying campaign that featured a streak of three consecutive defeats, but there is minimal jeopardy in South American qualifying these days. He has overseen a clear improvement. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the best of the north African sides, capable both of overwhelming rivals and playing on the counter-attack, qualifying with a perfect record.

Group D

At the start of 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 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 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 record that has led to both group phase eliminations and a quarter-final appearance. Their familiar cautious mindset hasn't changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most fluent Australia team and their roster is without clear superstars, but in spite of an shaky start to the third phase of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their final two fixtures. The pool's fourth team will come from the winner of Europe’s playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

After successive group phase exits, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The shift to a more progressive style has introduced a fragility and the draw initially looked like posing a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualification, ending up second behind Argentina in South America. Although they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline featuring Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a mere five.

Ivory Coast live in a state of constant pessimism, where nothing is ever quite successful as the glorious squad of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved transformative. After an implausible continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualifying, netting 25 goals without none.

The tiniest country ever to qualify, Curaçao, were the fourth team drawn, however, making the group look a lot far less daunting than it might have appeared.

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe lack the galacticos of past Dutch generations, but they secured qualification without losing and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, always looks a more reliable player with his country's side than at club level. They open against Japan, who will play in their eighth successive finals, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian sides in qualification, suffering one of their 16 games over the two phases, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia made sure of a third consecutive finals appearance by dominating a straightforward qualification group, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are perhaps not as defensive as some previous Tunisian teams; they had a remarkable 14 separate scorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the UEFA play-off (against Ukraine in the semi-final, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will create a rematch of the group stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first executed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Group G

Belgium and Egypt 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, finding goals easily 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 failed to qualify during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully fulfilled their potential on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them attacking threat, but it was a defence that conceded just twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified undefeated.

A reserved place for Oceania effectively meant 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 booked their place in North America next summer. Team Melli, who were defeated only once in a difficult third phase qualification group, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly