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Group A

The first game at the famous Azteca Stadium will echo the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with Mexico. The Mexican team's elimination stage record at the global showpiece features just one win, secured against Bulgaria when they previously were hosts in 1986. Their coach, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that team and will be aiming for a third quarter-final berth as tournament hosts. The South African side, coached by veteran Belgian manager Hugo Broos, qualified for their initial finals since hosting, ending above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a win over Lesotho awarded against them for using an suspended player.

This will represent Korea Republic's eleventh consecutive finals appearance. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came in third place in the Golden Ball award 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 final team in Group A will be the victor of a UEFA qualifying play-off featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

Canada have qualified for the global finals twice and, although Qatar 2022 yielded their maiden finals goal, it did not deliver their first-ever point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of arguably the most talented squad in their nation's history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which favorable the group appears depends mostly on whether Italy progress through the European play-off (the other three teams 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 past five World Cups and were quarter-finalists at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket without defeat from probably the most straightforward of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players hoping to feature at their fourth World Cups. The Qatari team, having finished fourth in their third phase qualification group, were handed a major boost by being chosen as a host for the final round and clinched progress with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected exclusively from the domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland first finals in 28 years looks a lot like their last appearance, when they lost to Brazil and Morocco; Haiti take the spot of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the elimination phase for the very first time after eight previous group phase exits. Haiti’s only prior World Cup, in 1974, was notable less for their three defeats than for the fate that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a drugs test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have restricted away support due to travel restrictions involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third manager in a qualifying campaign that featured a streak of three successive defeats, but there is little risk in South American qualification these days. He has presided over a noticeable upturn in form. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the best of the north African nations, capable both of dominating rivals and playing on the counter, qualifying with a perfect record.

Group D

At the start of last year, the United States seemed in a dismal state, 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 seemingly begun to get his ideas understood and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will start against Paraguay, who are competing in their 6th World Cup. They have secured one game at each of the prior five, a statistic that has resulted to both group phase eliminations and a last-eight appearance. Their familiar cautious mindset hasn't changed: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most fluent Australia side and their squad is without clear stars, but despite an shaky 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 final two fixtures. The group’s final team will come from the victor of the European playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

After back-to-back group-stage eliminations, Die Mannschaft are no longer the feared force of old. The shift to a more progressive philosophy has introduced a vulnerability and the group initially looked like posing a massive challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the revelations of qualifying, 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 live in a state of constant pessimism, where nothing is ever quite successful 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 inspirational. After an improbable continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, netting 25 goals and conceding none.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side maybe do not possess the galacticos of previous Dutch eras, but they secured qualification unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualification, always appears a more reliable performer with his country's side than at domestic level. They begin against the Japanese team, who will play in their 8th successive World Cup, and were by far the most dominant of the Asian nations in qualifying, losing one of their 16 games over the two phases, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side made sure of a third consecutive finals appearance by topping a straightforward qualifying group, picking up 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are maybe not as defensive as certain past Tunisian teams; they had a staggering 14 different goalscorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the UEFA playoff (against Ukraine in the semi-final, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will set up a rematch of the group stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Group G

The Belgian Red Devils and Egypt are moving on from the legacy of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualification, finding the net eight times but letting in 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 successful side in African history, but having failed to qualify during their golden 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 conceded only twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified undefeated.

A reserved place for Oceania effectively equated to a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who sailed through qualification, winning five games out of five, netting 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. Iran, who lost once in a tricky third phase qualifying section, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially