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Pool A

The initial fixture at the iconic Azteca venue will mirror the first game from 2010, when South Africa drew 1-1 with Mexico. Mexico's knockout stage history at the global tournament includes just a single win, secured against Bulgaria when they previously hosted in 1986. Their coach, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that squad and will be aiming for a third-ever last-eight appearance as tournament hosts. South Africa, coached by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial finals since hosting, ending above Nigeria and Benin even after having a victory over Lesotho given against them for fielding an suspended footballer.

It will mark Korea Republic's eleventh straight finals qualification. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished third in the Golden Ball voting when South Korea reached the semi-final in 2002. He is now their manager and led them without a loss through a anything but straightforward qualification group. The final team in Group A will be the victor of a European playoff involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

Canada 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 manager of probably the best group of players in their history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How kind the draw looks hinges largely on whether the Italian national team make it through the UEFA playoff (the other three contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following 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 qualified unbeaten from probably the most straightforward of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have individuals hoping to play at their fourth finals. Qatar, having ended up fourth in their third-round qualifying section, were given a major boost by being selected as a host for the fourth phase and secured qualification with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is drawn exclusively from the Qatari league.

Pool C

Scotland's return to the World Cup in 28 years bears a lot like their last appearance, when they lost to the Seleção and the Atlas Lions; Haiti take the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to make it to the knockout stage for the very first time after eight prior group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s only prior finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats 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 restricted traveling support due to travel restrictions from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third coach in a qualifying campaign that featured 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, capable both of dominating opponents and playing on the counter, securing qualification with a perfect record.

Group 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 friendlies. But over the last year, Mauricio Pochettino has apparently begun to get his message understood and in November the USA beat Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will begin against the Paraguayan side, who are competing in their 6th finals. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a record that has led to both group phase exits and a last-eight place. Their familiar cautious approach hasn't changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most free-flowing Australia team and their squad lacks obvious stars, but despite an shaky beginning to the third round of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side qualified 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

After back-to-back group phase eliminations, Germany are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more progressive style has introduced a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like presenting a massive test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the revelations of qualifying, ending up in second place behind Argentina in South America. While they scored 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 constant declinism, where nothing is ever as good as the glorious generation of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved transformative. Following an implausible continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, netting 25 goals without reply.

The tiniest country ever to qualify, Curaçao, were the final team picked, however, making the group look a lot less intimidating than it might have appeared.

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side maybe do not possess the star quality of previous Dutch generations, but they qualified without losing and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualification, consistently looks a more reliable performer with his country's side than at domestic level. They open against the Japanese team, who will participate in their 8th successive World Cup, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian nations in qualification, suffering one of their 16 games over the two phases, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side secured of a third consecutive World Cup appearance by dominating a straightforward qualification group, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are perhaps not as defensive as some previous Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 separate scorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the UEFA 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

Belgium and the Pharaohs are moving on from the shadow of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualification, finding the net eight times but letting in 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 decorated side in African history, but having not managed 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 cutting edge, but it was a defence that allowed only twice in 10 games that meant they qualified unbeaten.

A guaranteed place for Oceania essentially meant a spot at the finals for the All Whites, who cruised through qualification, winning five games out of five, scoring 29 goals, nine of them by Chris Wood, but they are the lowest-ranked side to have secured their place in North America next summer. Iran, who lost once in a difficult third-round qualification group, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly