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Group A

This initial match at the famous Azteca venue will echo the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana drew 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's elimination phase record at the global tournament features just one victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they last were hosts in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be targeting a third-ever quarter-final berth as tournament hosts. The South African side, led by veteran Belgian manager Hugo Broos, qualified for their initial finals since they hosted, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a win over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an ineligible footballer.

This will mark Korea Republic's eleventh consecutive World Cup appearance. Legend Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and came third in the Best Player voting when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. He is now their manager and guided them unbeaten through a far from easy qualifying section. The final side in Group A will be the winner of a UEFA playoff involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

Canada have made it for the World Cup on two occasions and, although Qatar 2022 yielded their maiden goal, it did not bring their first-ever finals 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. The extent to which kind the group looks depends mostly on whether the Italian national team make it through the UEFA playoff (the other three teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have got through the initial phase in four of the past five World Cups and were last-eight participants at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket unbeaten from probably the most straightforward of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast individuals hoping to feature at their fourth finals. Qatar, having finished in fourth in their third phase qualification group, were given a major boost by being chosen as a tournament host for the final phase and secured progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected entirely from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland's first World Cup in 28 years looks a lot like their last appearance, when they lost to Brazil and Morocco; the Haitian team take the spot of Norway. Their aim will be to make it to the elimination stage for the very first time after 8 previous group phase eliminations. Haiti’s sole previous finals, in 1974, was notable less for their three losses than for the fate that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a drugs test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have restricted away support due to travel restrictions from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third coach in a qualification process that included a streak of three consecutive losses, but there is little risk in South American qualification these days. He has overseen a clear upturn in form. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the strongest of the north African nations, capable both of overwhelming opponents and playing on the counter-attack, qualifying with a perfect win record.

Group D

Early last year, the USA seemed in a dismal 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 seemingly begun to get his ideas across and in November the USA beat Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will start against the Paraguayan side, who are playing in their 6th finals. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has led to both group-stage eliminations and a quarter-final appearance. Their trademark defensive mindset hasn't changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australian side and their squad is without clear stars, but in spite of an shaky start to the third round of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their final two fixtures. The group’s fourth team will emerge from the winner of Europe’s playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

Following successive group phase eliminations, Die Mannschaft are no longer the feared force of old. The shift to a more attacking style has brought a fragility and the draw initially looked like presenting a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualifying, ending up in second place behind Argentina in South America. Although they netted 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 mere five.

Côte d’Ivoire exist in a state of permanent declinism, where nothing is ever as good as the golden squad 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 success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualifying, netting 25 goals without none.

The smallest country ever to reach the finals, the Curaçao team, were the final team picked, though, making the group look a lot less daunting than it might have been.

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side maybe lack the star quality of previous Dutch generations, but they secured qualification without losing and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, consistently looks a more effective player with his national side than at club level. They open against Japan, who will participate in their eighth successive finals, and were by far the most dominant of the Asian sides in qualification, losing one of their 16 games across 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 group, picking up 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as dour as certain past Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 separate goalscorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the European 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 executed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

The Belgian Red Devils and Egypt are moving on from the shadow of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, scoring the net eight times but conceding five in two wins over Wales, scoring 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 not managed to qualify during their peak 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 allowed just twice in 10 games that meant they qualified unbeaten.

A reserved place for Oceania effectively meant a spot at the finals for the All Whites, who sailed 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 were defeated only once in a tricky third phase qualifying section, are on a travel ban, possibly