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Group A

The initial fixture at the iconic Azteca Stadium will replay the opener from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with Mexico. The Mexican team's knockout phase history at the global showpiece includes just one victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they last were hosts in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that squad and will be aiming for a third last-eight appearance as tournament hosts. South Africa, led by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, qualified for their initial World Cup since they hosted, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a win over Lesotho given against them for using an suspended player.

This will represent South Korea's eleventh straight World Cup appearance. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came third in the Best Player award when South Korea made the semi-final in 2002. He is now their manager and guided them unbeaten through a anything but straightforward qualification section. The fourth side in Group A will be the winner of a European playoff involving 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 maiden goal, it did not deliver their first-ever finals point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of probably the best squad in their history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How kind the draw appears hinges largely on whether Italy make it through the UEFA play-off (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 group stage in four of the past five tournaments and were quarter-finalists 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 players hoping to feature at their fourth World Cups. The Qatari team, having finished in fourth in their third-round qualification section, were handed a major advantage by being selected as a tournament host for the final round and secured progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected exclusively from the Qatari league.

Pool C

Scotland first finals in 28 years looks a lot like their previous appearance, when they were defeated to Brazil and Morocco; Haiti occupy the spot of Norway. Their aim will be to make it to the elimination stage for the very first time after eight previous group phase eliminations. Haiti’s only previous finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three losses than for the fate that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a drugs test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have restricted away support due to travel restrictions from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third coach in a qualifying process that included a run of three consecutive losses, but there is minimal 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 sides, capable both of dominating opponents and playing on the counter-attack, qualifying with a 100% record.

Pool D

Early last year, the USA seemed in a dismal condition, 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 across and in November the USA beat Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will start against Paraguay, who are competing in their sixth finals. They have won one game at each of the prior five, a statistic that has led to both group phase eliminations and a quarter-final place. Their trademark cautious approach has not changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most free-flowing Australian team and their roster is without obvious superstars, but in spite of an shaky start 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 final two fixtures. The pool's fourth team will emerge from the victor of Europe’s playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

After successive group-stage eliminations, Germany are no longer the feared force of old. The transition to a more attacking style has introduced a vulnerability and the group initially looked like presenting a massive challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the surprise package of qualifying, finishing in second place behind Argentina in South America. Although they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a defence including 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 permanent pessimism, where nothing is ever quite good as the golden generation 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 qualification, netting 25 goals and conceding none.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe lack the galacticos of previous Dutch eras, but they secured qualification without losing and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualification, consistently looks a more reliable player with his country's side than at club level. They open against the Japanese team, who will play in their 8th consecutive World Cup, and were by far the most impressive of the Asian nations in qualification, suffering one of their 16 games over the two groups, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia made sure of a third straight finals appearance by dominating a straightforward qualifying group, picking up 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as defensive as some previous Tunisian sides; they had a remarkable 14 separate goalscorers 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 create a rematch of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

Belgium and Egypt are moving on from the legacy of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, finding 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 failed to reach the finals 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 only twice in 10 games that meant they qualified unbeaten.

A reserved place for Oceania essentially equated to 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-ranked side to have secured their place in North America next summer. Iran, who were defeated only once in a difficult third phase qualifying group, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially