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Group A

This first fixture at the iconic Azteca venue will mirror the opener from 2010, when Bafana Bafana drew 1-1 with Mexico. Mexico's knockout stage history at the worldwide tournament features just a single win, achieved against Bulgaria when they previously were hosts in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that squad and will be targeting a third-ever last-eight appearance as tournament hosts. South Africa, coached by experienced Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, qualified for their first finals since they hosted, finishing above Nigeria and Benin even after having a victory over Lesotho given against them for fielding an suspended footballer.

It will represent Korea Republic's 11th straight finals appearance. Legend Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and finished in third place in the Golden Ball voting when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. Hong is now their coach and led them without a loss through a anything but straightforward qualification section. The fourth side in Group A will be the victor of a UEFA qualifying play-off involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

The Canadian team have qualified for the global finals on two occasions and, although Qatar 2022 yielded their maiden goal, it did not bring their first-ever point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of probably the most talented group of players in their history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which kind the draw appears hinges mostly on whether the Italian national team progress through the European play-off (the remaining 3 contenders 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 last five tournaments and were quarter-finalists at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket without defeat from probably the most straightforward of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have individuals aiming to play at their fourth finals. The Qatari team, having ended up in fourth in their third-round qualifying section, were handed a major boost by being chosen 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 outing, when they lost to the Seleção and Morocco; Haiti occupy the place of Norway. Their aim will be to make it to the elimination stage for the very first time after eight prior group phase exits. Haiti’s only prior finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three losses than for the fate that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a doping test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have restricted traveling support due to travel restrictions involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third coach in a qualification campaign that included a streak of three consecutive defeats, but there is little jeopardy in South American qualifying these days. He has presided over a clear improvement. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the best of the north African nations, capable both of overwhelming rivals and playing on the counter-attack, securing qualification with a perfect win record.

Group D

Early last year, the United States seemed in a poor state, suffering defeats 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 defeated Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will begin against Paraguay, who are playing in their 6th finals. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has resulted to both group-stage exits and a last-eight appearance. Their trademark cautious approach hasn't altered: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most fluent Australia side and their squad is without clear superstars, but in spite of an iffy beginning to the third phase of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their last two matches. The pool's fourth team will emerge from the winner of the European Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

After back-to-back group-stage eliminations, Germany are no longer the feared force of old. The transition to a more progressive style has introduced a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like posing a massive challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the surprise package of qualifying, finishing second behind Argentina in South America. While they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline featuring Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a paltry five.

Ivory Coast live in a state of permanent declinism, where nothing is ever quite good as the golden generation of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved transformative. After an improbable continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualifying, scoring 25 goals without none.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side perhaps do not possess the galacticos of past Dutch eras, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, always appears a more reliable player with his national side than at club level. They open against Japan, who will play in their 8th successive finals, and were by far the most dominant of the Asian nations in qualification, losing one of their 16 games over the two phases, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side made sure of a third straight World Cup berth by topping a straightforward qualification section, picking up 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as defensive as certain past Tunisian sides; they had a remarkable 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

Belgium and Egypt are moving on from the legacy of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, finding the net eight times but conceding five in two wins over Wales, scoring 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 world stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defence that conceded 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 sailed 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 lost once in a difficult third-round qualification group, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially