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Pool A

This initial match at the iconic Azteca Stadium will mirror the opener from 2010, when Bafana Bafana drew 1-1 with Mexico. Mexico's elimination stage history at the global tournament features just one victory, secured against Bulgaria when they previously hosted in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that squad and will be targeting a third quarter-final berth as tournament hosts. South Africa, coached by veteran Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, qualified for their initial finals since hosting, ending above Nigeria and Benin despite having a win over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an ineligible player.

It will mark Korea Republic's 11th consecutive finals qualification. Legend Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and finished in third place in the Best Player voting when South Korea reached the semi-final in 2002. He is now their manager and led them without a loss through a far from straightforward qualifying group. The fourth team 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

Canada have made it for the World Cup twice and, although Qatar 2022 yielded their first goal, it did not bring their first-ever point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of probably the most talented squad in their nation's history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How favorable the group looks depends mostly on whether Italy progress through the UEFA play-off (the other 3 teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have got through the initial phase in four of the past five World Cups and were quarter-finalists at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket unbeaten from arguably the most straightforward of the UEFA groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players aiming to play at their fourth World Cups. Qatar, having ended up in fourth in their third-round qualification section, were handed a major boost by being chosen as a tournament host for the final round and secured qualification with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is selected entirely from the Qatari league.

Pool C

Scotland return to the finals in 28 years looks a lot like their previous outing, when they lost to Brazil and Morocco; the Haitian team occupy the place of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the elimination phase for the very first time after eight prior group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s only previous finals, in 1974, was remembered 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 beaten by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have restricted away support due to a travel ban from the USA.

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

Pool D

Early 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 friendlies. But over the past year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his message across and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before routing 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 record that has led to both group-stage exits and a quarter-final appearance. Their familiar defensive mindset has not changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

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

Group E

After successive group-stage exits, Germany are no longer the feared force of old. The transition to a more progressive style has brought a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like posing a massive challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the revelations of qualifying, ending up 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, protected by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, let in a paltry five.

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

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side perhaps do not possess the star quality of previous Dutch generations, but they secured qualification unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, consistently appears a more effective player with his country's side than at domestic level. They begin against the Japanese team, who will participate in their 8th successive finals, and were by far the most impressive of the Asian nations in qualifying, suffering one of their 16 games across the two phases, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia secured of a third consecutive finals appearance by topping a manageable qualifying group, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are maybe not as defensive as some previous Tunisian teams; they had a staggering 14 different goalscorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the UEFA play-off (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 performed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

Belgium and the Pharaohs are emerging from the legacy of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualification, scoring 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 history, but having failed to qualify during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully done themselves justice on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defence 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 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 lost only once in a difficult third phase qualifying group, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially