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Pool A

The first fixture at the iconic Azteca Stadium will mirror the opener from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with Mexico. The Mexican team's elimination phase record at the global tournament includes just a single victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they last were hosts in 1986. Their manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that squad and will be aiming for a third quarter-final berth as hosts. South Africa, coached by veteran Belgian manager Hugo Broos, qualified for their first finals since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite having a victory over Lesotho awarded against them for using an suspended player.

It will represent Korea Republic's 11th consecutive World Cup appearance. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came in third place in the Best Player voting when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. Hong is now their manager and guided them without a loss through a far from easy qualifying group. The fourth team in Group A will be the winner of a UEFA playoff featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

The Canadian team have qualified for the global finals on two occasions and, while Qatar 2022 yielded their maiden finals goal, it did not bring their first-ever finals point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of arguably the best squad in their nation's history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How favorable the group appears depends largely on whether the Italian national team progress through the UEFA play-off (the other three contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have got through the group stage in four of the last five tournaments and were last-eight participants at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket without defeat from arguably the most straightforward of the UEFA groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players aiming to play at their fourth World Cups. The Qatari team, having finished fourth in their third phase qualifying group, were handed a significant boost by being selected as a host for the fourth round and secured qualification with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is drawn exclusively from the domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland's first finals in 28 years looks a lot like their last outing, when they were defeated to Brazil and Morocco; the Haitian team occupy the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to make it to the knockout phase for the first time after 8 prior group-stage exits. Haiti’s only previous World Cup, in 1974, was notable less for their three defeats than for the fate that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a doping test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have limited traveling 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 consecutive losses, but there is minimal jeopardy in South American qualifying these days. He has overseen a clear upturn in form. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the strongest of the north African nations, capable both of dominating opponents and playing on the counter-attack, securing qualification with a perfect win record.

Group D

At the start of last year, the USA seemed in a poor state, losing 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 message 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 finals. They have secured one game at each of the prior five, a statistic that has resulted to both group-stage exits and a quarter-final appearance. Their familiar defensive mindset hasn't altered: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most free-flowing Australian side and their roster lacks obvious superstars, but in spite of an shaky start 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 last two matches. The group’s fourth team will emerge from the victor of Europe’s Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

Following back-to-back group phase eliminations, Germany are no longer the bogeymen of old. The shift to a more progressive philosophy has introduced a vulnerability and the group initially looked like posing a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualifying, ending up second behind Argentina in South America. Although they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a defence 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 quite good 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 clinical in qualification, scoring 25 goals without none.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe do not possess the galacticos of past Dutch generations, but they secured qualification unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualification, always appears a more reliable performer with his national side than at club level. They begin against the Japanese team, who will participate in their eighth successive World Cup, and were by some way the most dominant of the Asian sides in qualifying, losing one of their 16 games over the two groups, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side secured of a third straight finals berth by dominating a manageable qualification group, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are maybe not as defensive as certain previous Tunisian sides; they had a remarkable 14 different goalscorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the UEFA playoff (against Ukraine in the semi, 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 performed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Group G

Belgium and Egypt are moving on from the shadow of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, finding the net eight times but letting in 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 reach the finals 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 cutting edge, but it was a defence that allowed just twice in 10 games that meant they qualified unbeaten.

A guaranteed place for Oceania effectively meant a spot at the finals for the All Whites, who sailed through qualification, winning five games out of five, scoring 29 goals, nine of them by Chris Wood, but they are the lowest-ranked side to have booked their place in North America next summer. Iran, who were defeated once in a difficult third-round qualification section, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly