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Group A

The first fixture at the iconic Azteca Stadium will echo the opener from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's knockout phase history at the worldwide tournament includes just one victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. Their manager, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that team and will be targeting a third last-eight berth as tournament hosts. The South African side, led by veteran Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, qualified for their first World Cup since hosting, ending above Nigeria and Benin despite having a victory over Lesotho given against them for fielding an suspended player.

This will mark Korea Republic's eleventh successive World Cup appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and finished in third place in the Best Player voting when South Korea made the semi-final in 2002. He is now their manager and guided them unbeaten through a anything but straightforward qualifying group. The fourth side in Group A will be the winner of a UEFA qualifying play-off involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

The Canadian team have made it for the World Cup on two occasions and, while Qatar 2022 brought their maiden finals goal, it did not deliver their first-ever point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of probably 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 the Italian national team make it through the European play-off (the other three teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have got through the group stage in four of the last five World Cups and were quarter-finalists at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified unbeaten from arguably the most straightforward of the UEFA groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have individuals hoping to feature at their fourth World Cups. The Qatari team, having finished fourth in their third phase qualifying group, were given a significant boost by being chosen as a tournament host for the fourth phase and clinched qualification with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is selected entirely from the Qatari league.

Group C

Scotland first finals in 28 years bears a lot like their last appearance, when they lost to the Seleção and Morocco; Haiti take the spot of Norway. Their aim will be to make it to the knockout stage for the first time after eight previous group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s sole previous World Cup, 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 doping test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have limited traveling support due to travel restrictions involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third coach in a qualifying campaign that included a streak of three consecutive defeats, but there is minimal risk in South American qualifying these days. He has presided over a noticeable upturn in form. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the best of the north African nations, capable both of dominating opponents and playing on the counter, qualifying with a 100% win record.

Group D

At the start of last year, the United States seemed in a dismal 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 apparently begun to get his message 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 sixth finals. They have won one game at each of the prior five, a statistic that has resulted to both group phase exits and a last-eight appearance. Their trademark defensive mindset has not altered: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australian side and their squad lacks clear 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 last two fixtures. The group’s fourth team will emerge from the victor of Europe’s playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following successive group-stage exits, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more attacking philosophy has brought a vulnerability and the group initially looked like posing a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the surprise package of qualifying, ending up in second place behind Argentina in South America. Although they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline including Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, protected by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a mere five.

Ivory Coast live in a state of constant declinism, where nothing is ever as 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, netting 25 goals without none.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side maybe do not possess the star quality of past Dutch generations, but they secured qualification unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, always looks a more effective player with his national side than at domestic level. They begin against Japan, who will play 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 phases, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia made sure of a third consecutive World Cup appearance by dominating a straightforward qualification 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 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 executed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

Belgium and Egypt are emerging from the legacy of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualification, scoring the net eight times but letting in 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 successful side in African football 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 just twice in 10 games that meant they qualified unbeaten.

A reserved place for Oceania effectively meant a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who sailed through qualifying, 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. Iran, who lost once in a difficult third phase qualifying section, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly