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Pool A

This opening match at the iconic Azteca venue will mirror the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with Mexico. The Mexican team's knockout phase history at the global tournament includes just one win, achieved against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that squad and will be aiming for a third-ever quarter-final appearance as tournament hosts. South Africa, coached by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial World Cup since hosting, ending above Nigeria and Benin despite having a victory over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an suspended footballer.

This will mark Korea Republic's eleventh straight finals qualification. Legend Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and finished in third place in the Best Player voting when South Korea made the last four in 2002. He is now their manager and guided them unbeaten through a far from straightforward qualification group. The final side in Group A will be the winner of a UEFA qualifying play-off featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

The Canadian team have made it for the World Cup twice and, although Qatar 2022 yielded their first finals goal, it did not bring their first point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of arguably the most talented squad in their nation's history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which favorable the draw appears depends largely on whether Italy progress through the UEFA play-off (the remaining three teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss 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 probably the easiest of the UEFA groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have individuals hoping to play at their fourth World Cups. Qatar, having ended up fourth in their third-round qualification group, were handed a significant boost 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 domestic league.

Group C

Scotland return to the finals in 28 years looks a lot like their previous outing, when they were defeated to Brazil and Morocco; Haiti take the place of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the elimination phase for the very first time after 8 prior group phase eliminations. Haiti’s only prior finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three losses than for the ordeal that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a doping test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have restricted traveling support due to a travel ban from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third manager in a qualifying campaign that included a run of three consecutive defeats, but there is little jeopardy in South American qualification these days. He has presided over a noticeable improvement. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the best of the north African nations, able both of overwhelming opponents and playing on the counter-attack, securing qualification with a 100% win record.

Group D

At the start of 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 friendly matches. But over the past year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his ideas across and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will start against Paraguay, who are playing in their 6th World Cup. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a record that has led to both group-stage eliminations and a quarter-final appearance. Their trademark cautious approach hasn't changed: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australia team and their squad is without obvious superstars, but in spite of an shaky start to the third phase of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side made it by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their last two fixtures. The group’s final team will emerge from the victor of the European Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following back-to-back group phase exits, Die Mannschaft are no longer the feared force of old. The transition to a more attacking style has brought a fragility and the group initially looked like posing a massive test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualifying, finishing in second place behind Argentina in South America. While they netted only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline including 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 quite good as the glorious generation of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved transformative. After an implausible continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualifying, netting 25 goals without none.

The smallest country ever to reach the finals, the Curaçao team, were the fourth 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 star quality of past Dutch generations, but they secured qualification unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, consistently looks a more reliable performer with his country's side than at club level. They open against Japan, who will participate in their eighth successive World Cup, and were by far the most impressive of the Asian nations in qualifying, suffering one of their 16 games across the two groups, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side secured of a third consecutive finals appearance by topping a straightforward qualification section, picking up 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as defensive as some previous Tunisian teams; they had a staggering 14 different goalscorers in qualifying. 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 rematch of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first executed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Group G

Belgium and Egypt are emerging from the shadow of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualifying, scoring the net eight times but letting in five in two wins over Wales, finding goals freely at times, but also struggling to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most decorated side in African football history, but having not managed to qualify during their peak 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 defence that conceded only twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified unbeaten.

A reserved place for Oceania essentially meant a spot at the finals for New Zealand, 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 booked their place in North America next summer. Iran, who were defeated only once in a tricky third-round qualification section, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly