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Group A

The first fixture at the famous Azteca Stadium will replay the opener from 2010, when South Africa drew 1-1 with Mexico. The Mexican team's knockout stage record at the worldwide tournament features just a single victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they previously hosted in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that squad and will be targeting a third-ever last-eight berth as tournament hosts. South Africa, led by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, qualified for their first World Cup since they hosted, finishing above Nigeria and Benin even after having a win over Lesotho awarded against them for using an ineligible footballer.

This will mark Korea Republic's eleventh successive finals qualification. Legend Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and finished third in the Golden Ball voting when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. He is now their manager and led them without a loss through a far from easy qualification group. The final team 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

Canada have made it for the World Cup twice and, while Qatar 2022 yielded their first finals goal, it did not bring their first-ever point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of probably the most talented squad in their nation's history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How favorable the draw looks hinges largely on whether the Italian national team make it through the UEFA playoff (the remaining three contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have navigated the initial phase in four of the past 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 experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players aiming to feature at their fourth World Cups. Qatar, having finished in fourth in their third-round qualification group, were handed a major boost by being selected as a host for the final round and clinched progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is drawn exclusively from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland's return to the World Cup in 28 years looks a lot like their last outing, when they were defeated to the Seleção and Morocco; Haiti occupy the spot of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the knockout stage for the first time after eight previous group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s only previous finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats than for the ordeal that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a drugs test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have limited away support due to a travel ban from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third coach in a qualification process that included a run of three consecutive defeats, but there is minimal jeopardy in South American qualification these days. He has presided over a clear upturn in form. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the best of the north African nations, able both of overwhelming opponents and playing on the counter, qualifying with a perfect win record.

Group D

At the start of last year, the United States seemed in a dismal condition, 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 message across and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will begin against Paraguay, who are competing in their 6th finals. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has resulted to both group phase eliminations and a last-eight place. Their familiar cautious mindset hasn't changed: 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 stars, but despite an shaky start to the third round of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side made it by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their final two fixtures. The group’s fourth team will come from the winner of the European Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

Following back-to-back group phase eliminations, Germany are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more progressive philosophy has introduced a vulnerability and the group initially looked like presenting a huge test 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, let in a mere five.

Ivory Coast live in a state of constant declinism, where nothing is ever quite 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 improbable continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualifying, netting 25 goals without reply.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side maybe lack the galacticos of past Dutch eras, but they qualified without losing and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, always looks a more effective performer with his country's side than at club level. They begin against the Japanese team, who will participate in their 8th consecutive finals, 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 combined goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side made sure of a third consecutive World Cup berth by dominating a straightforward qualification section, picking up 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as defensive as certain previous Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 different scorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the European 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 iconic 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 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 history, but having failed to reach the finals during their peak period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite done themselves justice on the world stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them attacking threat, but it was a defensive unit that conceded just 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 secured their place in North America next summer. Team Melli, who were defeated once in a difficult third-round qualification section, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly