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Pool A

The first match at the iconic Azteca Stadium will mirror the opener from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's knockout stage record at the global showpiece includes just a single win, achieved against Bulgaria when they previously were hosts in 1986. Their manager, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that squad and will be aiming for a third last-eight berth as hosts. The South African side, led by veteran Belgian manager Hugo Broos, qualified for their first finals since hosting, ending above Nigeria and Benin even after having a win over Lesotho given against them for using an suspended footballer.

This will mark Korea Republic's 11th straight finals qualification. Icon Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and came third in the Best Player award when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. He is now their manager and guided them without a loss through a anything but easy qualifying group. The final side in Group A will be the victor of a European playoff featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

The Canadian team have qualified for the World Cup on two occasions and, while Qatar 2022 yielded their maiden finals goal, it did not bring their first-ever point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of arguably the best squad in their history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which kind the draw looks depends mostly on whether Italy make it through the UEFA play-off (the other 3 contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have navigated the initial phase in four of the last five tournaments and were last-eight participants at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified without defeat from probably the most straightforward of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players aiming to play at their fourth World Cups. The Qatari team, having finished in fourth in their third phase qualification section, were given a major advantage by being selected as a tournament host for the final round and secured progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is drawn exclusively from the domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland return to the World Cup in 28 years bears a lot like their last appearance, when they were defeated to the Seleção and Morocco; the Haitian team occupy the place of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the elimination phase for the very first time after 8 prior group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s only previous World Cup, in 1974, was notable less for their three defeats than for the fate that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a doping test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have limited traveling support due to travel restrictions from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third coach in a qualifying process that featured a streak of three consecutive losses, but there is little risk in South American qualifying these days. He has presided over a noticeable improvement. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the best of the north African nations, able both of overwhelming rivals and playing on the counter, securing qualification with a 100% win record.

Group D

At the start of last year, the United States seemed in a poor state, suffering defeats to Panama and Canada in the Concacaf Nations League and to Turkey and Switzerland in friendly matches. But over the past year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his ideas understood 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 sixth World Cup. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has resulted to both group-stage eliminations and a quarter-final place. Their familiar defensive approach has not changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most free-flowing Australian side and their roster lacks obvious stars, but in spite of an shaky start to the third phase of Asian qualification, 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 victor of the European playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

Following successive group-stage eliminations, Germany are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more attacking style has introduced a fragility and the group initially looked like presenting a massive test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualification, finishing second behind Argentina in South America. While they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline featuring Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, let in a mere five.

Ivory Coast exist in a state of constant pessimism, where nothing is ever quite good as the golden squad of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. Following an improbable continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualifying, netting 25 goals without none.

The tiniest country ever to reach the finals, the Curaçao team, were the final team drawn, however, making the group look a lot less intimidating than it might have appeared.

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side perhaps do not possess the star quality of past Dutch generations, but they qualified without losing and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualification, consistently appears a more reliable performer with his country's side than at domestic level. They begin against Japan, who will participate in their eighth successive World Cup, and were by far the most dominant of the Asian sides in qualification, 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, picking up 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as dour as certain previous Tunisian sides; they had a remarkable 14 separate scorers in qualification. 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 create a rematch of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

Belgium and the Pharaohs are emerging from the legacy of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualification, finding the net eight times but letting in five in two wins over Wales, scoring easily at times, but also laboring to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

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

A reserved place for Oceania effectively meant a spot at the finals for the All Whites, 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 only once in a difficult third-round qualifying section, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly