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Pool A

The first fixture at the famous Azteca Stadium will mirror the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana drew 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's elimination stage history at the worldwide showpiece includes just a single win, achieved against Bulgaria when they previously were hosts in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that squad and will be targeting a third-ever quarter-final appearance as hosts. The South African side, coached by veteran Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first finals since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a victory over Lesotho given against them for fielding an suspended footballer.

It will represent Korea Republic's 11th successive finals qualification. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished third in the Best Player voting when South Korea made the semi-final in 2002. He is now their manager and led them unbeaten through a anything but straightforward qualification section. The fourth team in Group A will be the winner of a European qualifying play-off featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

The Canadian team 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 most talented group of players in their nation's history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How kind the group appears hinges mostly on whether Italy make it through the European play-off (the remaining 3 contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have navigated the group stage in four of the past five tournaments and were quarter-finalists at the past 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 individuals hoping to feature at their fourth finals. Qatar, having ended up fourth in their third phase qualifying group, were handed a major advantage by being selected as a tournament host for the final round and clinched progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is drawn entirely from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland return to the World Cup in 28 years bears a lot like their previous outing, when they were defeated to Brazil and the Atlas Lions; Haiti take the spot of Norway. Their primary objective will be to make it to the knockout phase for the first time after 8 previous group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s sole previous finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three losses than for the ordeal that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing 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 manager in a qualifying process that featured a run of three successive losses, but there is minimal risk in South American qualifying these days. He has overseen a noticeable improvement. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the strongest of the north African sides, capable both of dominating opponents and playing on the counter, qualifying with a 100% record.

Pool 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 friendly matches. But over the last year, Mauricio Pochettino has apparently begun to get his ideas across and in November the USA beat Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will begin against the Paraguayan side, who are playing 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 place. Their familiar cautious approach hasn't altered: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most fluent Australian side and their squad is without obvious superstars, but despite an iffy beginning to the third phase of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side made it by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their final two matches. The group’s final team will come from the victor of the European Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

Following successive group phase exits, Germany are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more attacking philosophy has brought a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like presenting a massive challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualification, finishing in second place behind Argentina in South America. While they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a defence 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 exist in a state of constant declinism, where nothing is ever as good as the glorious generation of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Emerse Faé has proved transformative. After an improbable continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualifying, scoring 25 goals and conceding reply.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe do not possess the star quality of past Dutch eras, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, consistently looks a more reliable player with his national side than at domestic level. They open against Japan, who will play in their 8th consecutive finals, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian nations in qualification, losing one of their 16 games across the two groups, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia secured of a third straight World Cup berth by dominating a straightforward qualifying group, picking up 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are perhaps not as dour as certain past Tunisian sides; they had a remarkable 14 different scorers in qualifying. 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 repeat of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first executed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

The Belgian Red Devils and the Pharaohs are moving on from the legacy of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, scoring 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 not managed to qualify 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 defensive unit that conceded only twice in 10 games that meant they qualified unbeaten.

A guaranteed place for Oceania essentially equated to a spot at the finals for the All Whites, who cruised through qualifying, winning five games out of five, scoring 29 goals, nine of them by Chris Wood, but they are the lowest-ranked side to have secured their place in North America next summer. Iran, who lost once in a tricky third-round qualifying group, are on a travel ban, possibly