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Pool A

This first game at the famous Azteca Stadium will replay the opener from 2010, when Bafana Bafana drew 1-1 with Mexico. Mexico's knockout stage record at the worldwide showpiece features just one win, achieved against Bulgaria when they previously were hosts in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that squad and will be aiming for a third last-eight appearance as tournament hosts. South Africa, led by veteran Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial World Cup since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite having a victory over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an ineligible footballer.

This will represent South Korea's eleventh consecutive World Cup qualification. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished third in the Golden Ball award when South Korea made the last four in 2002. Hong is now their manager and led them unbeaten through a far from easy qualifying section. The fourth team in Group A will be the winner 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 global finals on two occasions and, although Qatar 2022 yielded their maiden finals goal, it did not deliver their first-ever finals 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. How favorable the draw looks depends mostly on whether the Italian national team make it through the European playoff (the other three contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have navigated the initial phase in four of the past five tournaments and were quarter-finalists at the past 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 play at their fourth finals. The Qatari team, having finished in fourth in their third phase qualifying section, were given a major boost by being selected as a host for the fourth round and secured progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is selected exclusively from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland's first World Cup in 28 years looks a lot like their last appearance, when they lost to the Seleção and the Atlas Lions; Haiti take the spot of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the knockout stage for the very first time after eight previous group-stage exits. Haiti’s sole previous finals, in 1974, was notable less for their three defeats than for the ordeal that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a doping test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have limited traveling support due to a travel ban from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third manager in a qualifying campaign that featured a run of three successive losses, but there is minimal risk in South American qualification these days. He has presided over a noticeable improvement. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the strongest of the north African nations, able both of dominating opponents and playing on the counter-attack, securing qualification with a perfect record.

Pool D

At the start of 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 start against the Paraguayan side, who are playing in their sixth 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 place. Their familiar defensive approach has not changed: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most free-flowing Australia team and their roster is without clear superstars, but in spite of an iffy beginning to the third round of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side made it by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their final two fixtures. The pool's final team will emerge from the winner of the European playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

After back-to-back group phase eliminations, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more progressive style has introduced a vulnerability and the group initially looked like presenting a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualification, ending up in second place 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, let in a paltry five.

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

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side perhaps lack the galacticos of previous Dutch generations, but they secured qualification without losing and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, always appears a more reliable player with his country's side than at domestic level. They begin against the Japanese team, who will play in their 8th successive finals, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian nations in qualifying, suffering one of their 16 games over the two phases, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia made sure of a third straight World Cup appearance by topping a straightforward qualifying group, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are perhaps not as defensive as certain past Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 separate scorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the European 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.

Pool G

Belgium and the Pharaohs are moving on from the shadow of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualification, scoring the net eight times but conceding five in two wins over Wales, scoring freely at times, but also laboring 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 peak period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite done themselves justice on the world stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defensive unit that allowed 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 cruised through qualification, 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 booked their place in North America next summer. Team Melli, who were defeated once in a difficult third-round qualification group, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly