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Group A

The first fixture at the historic Azteca venue will echo the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with Mexico. Mexico's knockout stage history at the worldwide showpiece features just a single victory, secured against Bulgaria when they previously were hosts in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be aiming for a third-ever last-eight berth as tournament hosts. The South African side, coached by experienced Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first World Cup since they hosted, ending above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a win over Lesotho awarded against them for using an ineligible footballer.

This will represent Korea Republic's eleventh consecutive finals qualification. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished third in the Best Player award when South Korea made the last four in 2002. He is now their coach and guided them unbeaten through a anything but straightforward qualifying section. The fourth side 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 on two occasions and, although Qatar 2022 brought their first goal, it did not deliver their first point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of arguably 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. The extent to which favorable the group appears depends mostly on whether the Italian national team progress through the UEFA play-off (the other three teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have navigated the group stage in four of the last five World Cups and were last-eight participants at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket unbeaten from probably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players aiming to feature at their fourth finals. Qatar, having finished fourth in their third phase qualification section, were given a major boost by being chosen as a host for the final round and secured qualification with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is drawn exclusively from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland's first finals in 28 years bears a lot like their last appearance, when they lost to the Seleção and Morocco; Haiti occupy the spot of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the knockout phase for the very first time after eight prior group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s only previous finals, in 1974, was notable less for their three defeats than for the ordeal that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a doping test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have restricted traveling support due to travel restrictions involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third manager in a qualifying campaign that included a run of three consecutive defeats, but there is little risk in South American qualifying these days. He has presided over a noticeable improvement. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the best of the north African sides, capable both of dominating rivals and playing on the counter-attack, qualifying with a perfect record.

Group D

Early 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 friendly matches. But over the last year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his ideas across and in November the USA beat Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will start against the Paraguayan side, who are playing in their sixth finals. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a record that has resulted to both group-stage eliminations and a last-eight appearance. 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 roster is without obvious superstars, but despite an iffy start 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 matches. The group’s final team will emerge from the winner of Europe’s playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

After back-to-back group phase exits, Germany are no longer the feared force of old. The shift to a more progressive philosophy has brought a fragility and the draw initially looked like presenting a massive test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the surprise package of qualifying, ending up second 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, conceded a paltry five.

Côte d’Ivoire live in a state of permanent 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 inspirational. Following an implausible continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualification, scoring 25 goals and conceding none.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side perhaps lack the star quality of past Dutch eras, but they secured qualification unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualification, always looks a more effective performer with his country's side than at domestic level. They begin against the Japanese team, who will participate in their 8th successive finals, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian sides in qualifying, losing one of their 16 games over the two phases, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side secured of a third straight World Cup berth by dominating a straightforward qualifying group, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as dour as certain previous Tunisian teams; they had a staggering 14 different scorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the UEFA play-off (against Ukraine in the semi-final, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will create a repeat of the group stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first executed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Group G

The Belgian Red Devils and Egypt are moving on from the legacy of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualification, finding the net eight times but conceding five in two wins over Wales, scoring freely at times, but also laboring to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most decorated side in African history, but having not managed to reach the finals during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite done themselves justice on the world stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defence that allowed only twice in 10 games that meant they qualified unbeaten.

A reserved place for Oceania essentially meant a spot at the finals for the All Whites, 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 booked their place in North America next summer. Iran, who lost only once in a difficult third-round qualifying section, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially