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Group A

The opening match at the iconic Azteca Stadium will echo the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana drew 1-1 with Mexico. The Mexican team's elimination phase history at the global tournament features just a single win, secured against Bulgaria when they last were hosts in 1986. Their coach, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be targeting a third-ever last-eight appearance as hosts. The South African side, led by veteran Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, qualified for their initial finals since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite having a victory over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an ineligible footballer.

It will represent Korea Republic's eleventh consecutive finals appearance. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished third in the Golden Ball voting when South Korea reached the semi-final in 2002. Hong is now their coach and guided them unbeaten through a far from straightforward qualifying group. The fourth side in Group A will be the victor of a European playoff featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

The Canadian team have made it for the global finals twice and, while Qatar 2022 yielded their maiden finals goal, it did not deliver their first-ever point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of arguably the most talented squad in their 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 European playoff (the remaining 3 contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have navigated the initial phase in four of the past five tournaments and were last-eight participants at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified without defeat from arguably the most straightforward of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players aiming to play at their fourth World Cups. The Qatari team, having finished fourth in their third-round qualifying group, were given a major boost by being chosen as a host for the final round and clinched progress with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is drawn entirely from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland first finals in 28 years bears a lot like their last appearance, when they lost to Brazil and the Atlas Lions; the Haitian team occupy the spot of Norway. Their aim will be to make it to the knockout phase for the first time after 8 previous group phase eliminations. Haiti’s sole prior finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three losses than for the fate that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a drugs test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have restricted away support due to travel restrictions from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third manager in a qualification process that featured a streak of three successive losses, but there is little jeopardy in South American qualification these days. He has overseen a noticeable upturn in form. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the strongest of the north African nations, capable both of overwhelming opponents and playing on the counter, securing qualification with a 100% record.

Pool D

Early last year, the USA seemed in a poor state, suffering defeats to Panama and Canada in the Concacaf Nations League and to Turkey and Switzerland in friendlies. 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 the Paraguayan side, who are playing in their sixth finals. They have secured one game at each of the prior five, a statistic that has resulted to both group phase eliminations and a quarter-final place. Their trademark defensive approach hasn't changed: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australian team and their squad lacks 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 matches. The pool's final team will come from the victor of Europe’s playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

After back-to-back group-stage eliminations, Germany are no longer the bogeymen of old. The shift to a more attacking philosophy has brought a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like presenting a massive challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualifying, ending up in second place behind Argentina in South America. Although they netted only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline including Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a mere five.

Ivory Coast exist in a state of permanent declinism, where nothing is ever as successful 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 inspirational. Following an improbable continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualifying, scoring 25 goals and conceding none.

The smallest country ever to reach the finals, Curaçao, were the final team picked, though, making the group look a lot less daunting than it might have been.

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe lack the galacticos of past Dutch generations, but they qualified 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 begin against Japan, who will play in their 8th consecutive finals, and were by far the most impressive of the Asian sides in qualification, losing one of their 16 games over the two phases, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia secured of a third consecutive World Cup appearance by dominating a manageable qualification group, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as defensive as certain previous Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 different scorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the European play-off (against Ukraine in the semi, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will set up a rematch of the group 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 shadow of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualification, finding the net eight times but letting in five in two wins over Wales, finding goals easily at times, but also laboring to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most decorated side in African football history, but having failed to reach the finals during their peak period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite done themselves justice on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defensive unit that conceded just twice in 10 games that meant they qualified unbeaten.

A guaranteed place for Oceania essentially equated to a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who cruised through qualifying, winning five games out of five, scoring 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 only once in a difficult third-round qualification group, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly