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Pool A

The first match at the famous Azteca Stadium will replay the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with El Tri. The Mexican team's knockout stage history at the worldwide tournament includes just a single victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. Their coach, 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 experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first finals since hosting, ending above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a win over Lesotho given against them for fielding an suspended footballer.

It will represent South Korea's eleventh successive finals appearance. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished third in the Golden Ball voting when South Korea made the semi-final in 2002. He is now their coach and led them without a loss through a far from easy qualification section. The fourth team in Group A will be the winner 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, while Qatar 2022 brought their maiden goal, it did not deliver their first finals point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of probably the most talented squad in their history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which favorable the draw appears hinges mostly on whether the Italian national team progress through the UEFA playoff (the other 3 teams 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 last five World Cups and were quarter-finalists 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 experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players aiming to feature at their fourth finals. The Qatari team, having finished fourth in their third-round qualification section, were handed a major advantage by being selected as a host for the fourth 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's return to the finals in 28 years looks a lot like their last outing, when they lost to Brazil 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 eliminations. Haiti’s only prior finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three losses than for the ordeal that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a drugs test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have limited away support due to travel restrictions involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third coach in a qualification process that featured a run of three successive defeats, but there is minimal jeopardy in South American qualifying these days. He has overseen a clear improvement. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the best of the north African nations, capable both of overwhelming opponents 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 condition, losing to Panama and Canada in the Concacaf Nations League and to Turkey and Switzerland in friendlies. But over the past year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his ideas understood and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will start against Paraguay, who are competing in their sixth World Cup. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has led to both group phase eliminations and a last-eight appearance. Their trademark cautious mindset 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 roster is without obvious stars, but despite an shaky start to the third phase of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their final two matches. The pool's final team will emerge from the winner of the European Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

After back-to-back group phase eliminations, Germany are no longer the feared force of old. The shift to a more attacking style has brought a vulnerability and the group initially looked like presenting a massive test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualification, finishing in second place behind Argentina in South America. While they netted 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 mere five.

Côte d’Ivoire exist in a state of permanent declinism, where nothing is ever quite good as the golden squad of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Emerse Faé has proved transformative. After an implausible continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, netting 25 goals without reply.

The smallest country ever to qualify, Curaçao, were the fourth team picked, though, making the group look a lot far less intimidating than it could have been.

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side perhaps lack the galacticos of previous Dutch generations, but they secured qualification unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, consistently looks a more effective performer with his country's side than at club level. They open against the Japanese team, who will play in their eighth consecutive World Cup, and were by some way the most dominant of the Asian sides in qualification, losing one of their 16 games across the two groups, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia made sure of a third consecutive finals berth by dominating a manageable qualifying section, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as dour as some past Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 different scorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the UEFA 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 famous Cruyff Turn.

Group G

Belgium and the Pharaohs are moving on from the shadow of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualification, scoring the net eight times but conceding 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 history, but having not managed to qualify during their peak period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite fulfilled their potential on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them attacking threat, but it was a defence that conceded only twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified unbeaten.

A reserved place for Oceania effectively 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 were defeated only once in a tricky third-round qualification group, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially