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Group A

This initial game at the historic Azteca venue will mirror the opener from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with Mexico. The Mexican team's knockout phase record at the global showpiece includes just one win, secured against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. Their coach, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be aiming for a third-ever last-eight appearance as hosts. South Africa, led by veteran Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial World Cup since they hosted, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a win over Lesotho given against them for fielding an suspended player.

This will represent Korea Republic's 11th consecutive finals appearance. Legend Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and finished in third place in the Best Player award when South Korea made the semi-final in 2002. He is now their manager and guided them without a loss through a far from straightforward qualification group. The final side 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

The Canadian team have made it for the World Cup twice and, while Qatar 2022 brought their maiden goal, it did not deliver their first-ever finals point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of arguably the most talented group of players in their nation's history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which kind the group looks hinges mostly on whether Italy progress through the UEFA play-off (the remaining three contenders 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 last five World Cups and were last-eight participants at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified unbeaten from arguably the most straightforward of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players hoping to feature at their fourth World Cups. Qatar, having ended up fourth in their third-round qualification group, were handed a major advantage by being selected as a host for the final 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 finals in 28 years looks a lot like their last outing, when they were defeated to the Seleção and the Atlas Lions; Haiti occupy the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the knockout phase for the very first time after 8 previous group phase eliminations. Haiti’s sole previous finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three losses than for the ordeal that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a drugs test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have limited traveling support due to travel restrictions involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third coach in a qualification process that featured a run of three successive defeats, but there is minimal jeopardy in South American qualifying these days. He has overseen a noticeable upturn in form. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the strongest of the north African sides, able both of dominating opponents and playing on the counter-attack, qualifying with a perfect win 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 friendly matches. But over the past year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his message across and in November the USA beat Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will begin against the Paraguayan side, who are competing in their 6th World Cup. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a record that has resulted to both group phase eliminations and a quarter-final appearance. Their trademark defensive mindset has not altered: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

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

Pool E

Following successive group-stage eliminations, Germany are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more progressive philosophy has introduced a vulnerability and the group initially looked like presenting a massive challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualification, finishing in second place 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, protected by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, let in a paltry five.

Ivory Coast live in a state of permanent declinism, where nothing is ever quite successful as the golden squad of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. Following an implausible continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualification, scoring 25 goals and conceding none.

The smallest country ever to reach the finals, the Curaçao team, were the final team picked, however, making the group look a lot far less intimidating than it could have been.

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side perhaps lack the star quality of previous Dutch eras, but they secured qualification without losing and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, consistently appears a more effective player with his national side than at club level. They open against Japan, who will play in their 8th consecutive finals, and were by far the most dominant of the Asian nations in qualifying, suffering 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 World Cup berth by topping a manageable qualifying section, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are maybe not as defensive as certain past Tunisian teams; they had a staggering 14 different scorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the UEFA playoff (against Ukraine in the semi, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will set up a repeat of the group stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

The Belgian Red Devils and Egypt are moving on from the legacy 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, scoring 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 world 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 New Zealand, who sailed through qualifying, winning five games out of five, scoring 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 only once in a difficult third phase qualification group, are on a travel ban, possibly