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Pool A

The first game at the historic Azteca Stadium will replay the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's elimination phase record at the worldwide showpiece includes just one victory, secured against Bulgaria when they previously were hosts in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be aiming for a third quarter-final appearance as hosts. The South African side, coached by veteran Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first World Cup since they hosted, ending above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a win over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an ineligible footballer.

It will mark Korea Republic's 11th straight finals qualification. Legend Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and came third in the Golden Ball voting when South Korea made the semi-final in 2002. He is now their coach and led them without a loss through a anything but 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

The Canadian team have qualified for the global finals twice and, while Qatar 2022 brought their maiden goal, it did not bring their first-ever point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of probably the best squad 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 the Italian national team make it through the European playoff (the other three teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have navigated the group stage in four of the past five World Cups and were last-eight participants at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified without defeat from arguably the most straightforward of the UEFA groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast individuals hoping to feature at their fourth World Cups. The Qatari team, having ended up fourth in their third phase qualifying group, were handed a significant advantage by being selected as a tournament host for the fourth round and secured progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is drawn entirely from the Qatari league.

Pool C

Scotland first finals in 28 years bears a lot like their last appearance, when they lost to Brazil and Morocco; the Haitian team take the place of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the knockout stage for the very first time after 8 prior group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s only previous World Cup, in 1974, was remembered less for their three losses than for the ordeal 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 away support due to a travel ban from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third coach in a qualification 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 strongest of the north African nations, able both of dominating rivals and playing on the counter, securing qualification with a perfect win record.

Pool 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 ideas understood and in November the USA beat Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will begin against Paraguay, who are playing in their sixth finals. They have won one game at each of the prior five, a record that has led to both group-stage eliminations and a last-eight place. Their trademark cautious mindset hasn't changed: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most fluent Australia side and their squad is without obvious superstars, but despite an iffy beginning to the third phase 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 pool's final team will come from the victor of Europe’s playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following back-to-back group-stage eliminations, Die Mannschaft are no longer the feared force of old. The transition to a more attacking style has brought a fragility and the draw initially looked like presenting a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the revelations of qualification, ending up second 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, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, let in a mere five.

Côte d’Ivoire exist in a state of permanent 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 inspirational. Following an improbable continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, netting 25 goals and conceding reply.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe do not possess the galacticos of past Dutch eras, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, consistently looks a more effective player with his country's side than at club level. They open against the Japanese team, who will participate in their 8th consecutive finals, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian nations in qualification, suffering one of their 16 games over the two groups, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side secured of a third straight World Cup appearance by topping a manageable qualifying section, picking up 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as defensive as certain previous Tunisian sides; they had a remarkable 14 separate scorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the European play-off (against Ukraine in the semi, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will set up a repeat of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

Belgium and Egypt are emerging from the shadow of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, scoring 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 successful side in African football history, but having failed to qualify 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 only twice in 10 games that meant they qualified unbeaten.

A reserved place for Oceania effectively meant a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who cruised through qualifying, 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 tricky third phase qualifying group, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially