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Pool A

This opening match at the famous Azteca venue will echo the opener from 2010, when Bafana Bafana drew 1-1 with Mexico. The Mexican team's elimination stage record at the worldwide tournament features just one victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that squad and will be aiming for a third-ever quarter-final berth as hosts. The South African side, coached by veteran Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial finals since they hosted, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a win over Lesotho given against them for using an suspended player.

This will represent South Korea's eleventh straight World Cup qualification. Icon Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and finished in third place in the Golden Ball award when South Korea made the last four in 2002. Hong is now their coach and led them without a loss through a anything but easy qualifying section. The final team in Group A will be the winner of a European qualifying play-off involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

The Canadian team have qualified for the global finals twice and, while Qatar 2022 brought their first finals goal, it did not deliver their first-ever point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of arguably the most talented squad in their history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which kind the draw appears depends mostly on whether Italy progress through the European playoff (the remaining 3 teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have navigated the initial phase in four of the past five World Cups and were quarter-finalists at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified without defeat from arguably the easiest of the UEFA groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players hoping to feature at their fourth finals. The Qatari team, having ended up in fourth in their third phase qualification group, were handed a significant boost by being chosen as a host for the final phase and clinched progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected exclusively from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland's return to the finals in 28 years bears a lot like their last outing, when they lost to Brazil and the Atlas Lions; the Haitian team occupy the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to make it to the knockout phase for the very first time after 8 previous group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s only previous finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three losses than for the ordeal that befell 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 traveling support due to a travel ban from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third coach in a qualification campaign that included a run of three successive losses, but there is minimal jeopardy in South American qualification these days. He has overseen a clear upturn in form. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the best of the north African nations, capable both of overwhelming rivals and playing on the counter, qualifying with a perfect win record.

Group D

At the start of last year, the United States seemed in a dismal state, 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 beat Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will start against the Paraguayan side, who are competing in their 6th World Cup. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has resulted to both group phase exits and a quarter-final appearance. Their trademark cautious approach hasn't changed: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most fluent Australian team and their roster lacks clear superstars, but in spite of an iffy beginning to the third round of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their final two fixtures. The pool's fourth team will come from the victor of Europe’s Play-off 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 draw initially looked like presenting a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the revelations of qualifying, 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, conceded a paltry five.

Côte d’Ivoire exist in a state of permanent pessimism, where nothing is ever quite good as the golden generation of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. Following an implausible continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, netting 25 goals without none.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side perhaps do not possess the galacticos of past Dutch generations, but they secured qualification without losing and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, always looks a more reliable player with his country's side than at domestic level. They open against Japan, who will participate in their eighth consecutive finals, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian nations in qualification, losing one of their 16 games over the two groups, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side secured of a third straight finals appearance by dominating a manageable qualifying group, picking up 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as defensive as certain past Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 separate goalscorers 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 create a repeat of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Group G

The Belgian Red Devils and Egypt are moving on from the shadow of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualification, scoring the net eight times but conceding five in two wins over Wales, scoring easily 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 fully done themselves justice on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defence that conceded just twice in 10 games that meant they qualified unbeaten.

A reserved place for Oceania effectively equated to a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who sailed through qualifying, 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 secured their place in North America next summer. Iran, who lost once in a difficult third-round qualification section, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially