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Pool A

This first game at the historic Azteca venue will echo the opener from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's elimination stage history at the global showpiece includes just one victory, secured against Bulgaria when they previously hosted in 1986. Their manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that squad and will be aiming for a third last-eight appearance as tournament hosts. The South African side, led by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial World Cup since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite having a win over Lesotho given against them for using an suspended player.

This will represent Korea Republic's eleventh consecutive World Cup appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and came third in the Best Player voting when South Korea made the last four in 2002. He is now their coach and led them unbeaten through a anything but easy 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

Canada have qualified for the World Cup twice and, while Qatar 2022 brought their first finals goal, it did not bring their first-ever finals 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. How kind the draw looks depends mostly on whether the Italian national team progress through the European playoff (the remaining three teams 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 last five tournaments and were last-eight participants at the last 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, boast players aiming to feature at their fourth finals. Qatar, having ended up in fourth in their third phase qualification group, were handed a significant advantage by being chosen as a host for the fourth phase and clinched qualification with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is selected entirely from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland return to the World Cup in 28 years looks a lot like their previous outing, when they were defeated to Brazil and Morocco; Haiti take the spot of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the elimination stage for the very first time after 8 prior group phase exits. Haiti’s sole prior finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats than for the fate that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a drugs test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have restricted away support due to a travel ban involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third coach in a qualification campaign that featured a streak of three consecutive defeats, but there is minimal jeopardy in South American qualifying these days. He has presided over a noticeable improvement. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the best of the north African sides, capable both of overwhelming rivals and playing on the counter-attack, securing qualification with a 100% win record.

Pool D

Early 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 last year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his ideas across and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will begin against the Paraguayan side, who are competing in their 6th finals. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has led to both group-stage eliminations and a last-eight place. Their trademark cautious approach has not altered: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most free-flowing Australian team and their squad is without clear superstars, but despite an shaky start to the third phase of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side made it by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their last two fixtures. The pool's fourth team will come from the winner of the European Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

After successive group-stage 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 presenting a massive challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualifying, ending up in second place 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 pessimism, where nothing is ever as good as the glorious squad of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved transformative. Following an implausible continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualification, scoring 25 goals without none.

The tiniest country ever to qualify, the Curaçao team, were the fourth team drawn, though, making the group look a lot less intimidating than it might have been.

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe do not possess the star quality of previous Dutch generations, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, consistently appears a more effective player with his country's side than at domestic level. They open against Japan, who will participate in their 8th successive World Cup, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian sides in qualification, losing one of their 16 games over the two groups, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia made sure of a third straight World Cup berth by dominating a straightforward qualification section, picking up 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are maybe not as defensive as some past Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 different goalscorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the UEFA play-off (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 performed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Group G

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

Egypt are the most decorated side in African history, but having failed to qualify during their peak period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully done themselves justice on the world stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defence that conceded only twice in 10 games that meant they qualified undefeated.

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, 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, possibly