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Group A

The first fixture at the famous Azteca venue will echo the opener from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with Mexico. Mexico's elimination stage record at the worldwide showpiece includes just a single win, achieved against Bulgaria when they previously hosted in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that squad and will be aiming for a third-ever last-eight berth as hosts. The South African side, led by experienced Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first finals since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin even after having a victory over Lesotho awarded against them for using an ineligible footballer.

This will mark Korea Republic's 11th consecutive World Cup qualification. Legend Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and finished third in the Golden Ball voting when South Korea made the last four in 2002. He is now their coach and guided them unbeaten through a anything but easy qualifying group. The final side in Group A will be the victor of a UEFA qualifying play-off involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

Canada have made it for the World Cup twice and, although Qatar 2022 brought their maiden finals goal, it did not bring their first point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of arguably the best squad in their history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How favorable the group appears depends mostly on whether Italy progress through the UEFA playoff (the other three contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have got through 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 most straightforward of the UEFA groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players aiming to feature at their fourth finals. The Qatari team, having ended up in fourth in their third-round qualifying section, were given a major advantage by being selected as a host for the final round and secured progress with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is drawn exclusively from the Qatari league.

Group C

Scotland return to the finals in 28 years looks a lot like their last outing, when they were defeated to Brazil and Morocco; the Haitian team take the spot of Norway. Their aim will be to make it to the elimination phase for the first time after eight previous group-stage exits. Haiti’s sole prior finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats than for the fate that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a doping test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have limited away support due to a travel ban from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third manager in a qualifying campaign that included a streak of three consecutive defeats, but there is little jeopardy 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 overwhelming opponents and playing on the counter, securing qualification with a perfect win record.

Group D

At the start of last year, the USA 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 last year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his ideas across 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 6th World Cup. They have won one game at each of the prior five, a record that has resulted to both group phase exits and a last-eight appearance. Their trademark cautious approach has not changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most fluent Australia side and their squad lacks obvious superstars, but despite an iffy beginning to the third phase of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their final two matches. The group’s fourth team will emerge from the winner of the European playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

After back-to-back group-stage exits, Germany are no longer the bogeymen of old. The shift to a more progressive style has brought a fragility and the group initially looked like posing a massive test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualification, ending up second behind Argentina in South America. Although they netted only 14 goals in 18 games, a defence including Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a mere five.

Ivory Coast live in a state of constant declinism, where nothing is ever quite successful as the golden generation of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. Following an improbable continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, scoring 25 goals without none.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side perhaps do not possess the star quality of previous Dutch eras, but they qualified without losing and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualification, always appears a more reliable player with his country's side than at domestic level. They open against Japan, who will participate in their eighth consecutive World Cup, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian sides in qualifying, losing one of their 16 games across the two phases, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side secured of a third consecutive finals appearance by dominating a manageable qualification section, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are maybe not as defensive as certain previous Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 separate goalscorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the European 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 executed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

The Belgian Red Devils and Egypt are emerging from the legacy of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, finding the net eight times but conceding five in two wins over Wales, finding goals easily at times, but also laboring to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most decorated side in African 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 defensive unit 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 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 FIFA-ranked side to have secured their place in North America next summer. Team Melli, who were defeated once in a difficult third phase qualifying section, are on a travel ban, potentially