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Pool A

The first fixture at the historic Azteca venue will mirror the opener from 2010, when South Africa drew 1-1 with Mexico. Mexico's elimination stage record at the worldwide tournament features just one victory, secured against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. Their manager, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that team and will be targeting a third-ever last-eight appearance as hosts. The South African side, led by experienced Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial World Cup since they hosted, ending above Nigeria and Benin even after having a win over Lesotho awarded against them for using an suspended player.

It will represent Korea Republic's 11th successive finals qualification. Legend Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and came third in the Golden Ball award when South Korea made the last four in 2002. Hong is now their manager and guided them unbeaten through a anything but easy qualifying 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

Canada have qualified for the World Cup twice and, while Qatar 2022 yielded their maiden finals goal, it did not bring their first finals point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of arguably the best group of players in their history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How kind the group looks hinges mostly on whether the Italian national team 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, Switzerland have got through the initial phase in four of the past five World Cups and were quarter-finalists at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket unbeaten from probably the most straightforward of the UEFA groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players hoping to feature at their fourth finals. Qatar, having finished in fourth in their third-round qualifying section, were handed a major advantage by being selected as a host for the final round and clinched progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is drawn exclusively from the domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland return to the finals in 28 years looks a lot like their previous appearance, when they were defeated to Brazil and the Atlas Lions; Haiti occupy the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the elimination phase for the first time after 8 previous group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s only prior finals, in 1974, was notable less for their three losses than for the fate that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a doping test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have limited traveling support due to a travel ban involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third coach in a qualification campaign that included a run of three consecutive defeats, but there is minimal risk in South American qualifying these days. He has overseen a noticeable improvement. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the strongest of the north African sides, able both of overwhelming opponents and playing on the counter-attack, 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 friendly matches. But over the last year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his ideas across and in November the USA beat Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will start against the Paraguayan side, who are competing in their sixth finals. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a record that has resulted to both group phase eliminations and a last-eight appearance. 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 team and their roster is without clear stars, but despite an shaky beginning to the third round of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side made it by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their final two fixtures. The pool's final team will come from the winner of Europe’s playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

After back-to-back group-stage exits, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more attacking philosophy has brought a fragility and the draw initially looked like presenting a huge test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations 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, protected by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a mere five.

Ivory Coast 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, head coach Emerse Faé has proved transformative. Following an improbable continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, scoring 25 goals without none.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side perhaps lack the star quality of previous Dutch generations, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, consistently looks a more reliable player with his national side than at club level. They begin against the Japanese team, who will participate in their eighth consecutive finals, and were by some way the most dominant of the Asian sides in qualification, suffering one of their 16 games over the two phases, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia secured of a third straight finals appearance by dominating a straightforward qualification section, picking up 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are maybe not as dour as certain previous Tunisian sides; they had a remarkable 14 different scorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the UEFA play-off (against Ukraine in the semi-final, 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 executed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Group G

Belgium and Egypt are emerging from the legacy of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, scoring the net eight times but conceding 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 decorated side in African history, but having not managed 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 allowed just 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 qualification, 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. Iran, who were defeated once in a difficult third-round qualification group, are on a travel ban, potentially