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Group A

This first fixture at the famous Azteca venue will echo the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's knockout phase record at the global tournament includes just a single victory, secured against Bulgaria when they previously hosted in 1986. Their coach, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that squad and will be aiming for a third-ever last-eight appearance as hosts. The South African side, coached by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, qualified for their initial World Cup since they hosted, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite having a victory over Lesotho awarded against them for using an ineligible player.

It will mark South Korea's 11th straight finals appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and finished third in the Best Player voting when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. Hong is now their coach and led them unbeaten through a anything but straightforward qualifying section. The final team 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 made it for the World Cup on two occasions and, although Qatar 2022 yielded their first goal, it did not bring their first point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of probably the best group of players in their history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How kind the group appears depends largely on whether the Italian national team progress through the European play-off (the remaining 3 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 last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket unbeaten from probably the easiest of the UEFA groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players hoping to play at their fourth finals. Qatar, having finished in fourth in their third-round qualification group, were given a significant advantage by being selected as a tournament host for the final round and secured progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is drawn entirely from the Qatari league.

Group C

Scotland return to the finals in 28 years looks a lot like their last outing, when they were defeated to the Seleção and Morocco; the Haitian team take the spot of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the knockout stage for the very first time after eight previous group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s sole prior finals, in 1974, was notable less for their three defeats 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 limited traveling support due to travel restrictions from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third coach in a qualification process that featured a run of three successive defeats, but there is little jeopardy in South American qualifying these days. He has overseen a noticeable improvement. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the best of the north African nations, capable both of dominating rivals and playing on the counter, qualifying with a perfect record.

Pool D

At the start of last year, the United States seemed in a poor condition, suffering defeats to Panama and Canada in the Concacaf Nations League and to Turkey and Switzerland in friendly matches. But over the past year, Mauricio Pochettino has apparently begun to get his message across and in November the USA beat Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will begin against Paraguay, who are competing in their sixth finals. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has led to both group-stage exits and a quarter-final place. Their trademark defensive approach hasn't altered: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australian team and their squad lacks clear superstars, but despite an iffy beginning to the third round of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side made it by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their last two fixtures. The group’s fourth team will emerge from the victor of the European playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following back-to-back group phase exits, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The shift to a more progressive philosophy has brought a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like posing a huge test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the revelations of qualifying, finishing in second place behind Argentina in South America. While 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, let in a paltry five.

Côte d’Ivoire exist in a state of constant pessimism, where nothing is ever quite successful as the glorious generation of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved transformative. Following an improbable continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualifying, scoring 25 goals and conceding none.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side maybe do not possess the star quality of previous Dutch generations, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualification, always appears a more effective 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 secured of a third straight World Cup appearance by dominating a straightforward qualification section, picking up 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as defensive as some previous Tunisian teams; they had a remarkable 14 separate scorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the European playoff (against Ukraine in the semi-final, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will create 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 shadow of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualifying, scoring the net eight times but letting in five in two wins over Wales, scoring 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 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 allowed just twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified unbeaten.

A guaranteed 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 FIFA-ranked side to have secured their place in North America next summer. Iran, who were defeated only once in a tricky third-round qualifying group, are on a travel ban, possibly