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Group A

The first match at the historic Azteca venue will echo the opener from 2010, when South Africa drew 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's knockout phase record at the global tournament features just a single victory, secured against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that squad and will be targeting a third-ever last-eight appearance as tournament hosts. South Africa, led by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial World Cup since hosting, ending above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a victory over Lesotho awarded against them for using an suspended footballer.

This will mark Korea Republic's 11th successive World Cup qualification. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished in third place in the Golden Ball award when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. Hong is now their manager and led them without a loss through a anything but easy qualifying group. The final team in Group A will be the victor of a UEFA playoff involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

The Canadian team have qualified for the global finals on two occasions and, although Qatar 2022 yielded their first finals goal, it did not bring their first point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of arguably the most talented squad in their history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How kind the draw looks hinges mostly on whether Italy make it through the UEFA play-off (the other three teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss 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 qualified unbeaten from probably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast individuals hoping to feature at their fourth finals. Qatar, having ended up in fourth in their third phase qualification group, were handed a significant boost by being chosen as a tournament host for the final round and secured qualification with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is drawn entirely from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland's return to the World Cup in 28 years bears a lot like their last appearance, when they were defeated to Brazil and Morocco; Haiti take the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to make it to the elimination stage for the first time after 8 previous group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s only prior finals, in 1974, was notable less for their three losses than for the fate that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a doping test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have limited away support due to a travel ban involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third manager in a qualification campaign that included a streak of three consecutive losses, but there is minimal jeopardy in South American qualifying these days. He has overseen a clear upturn in form. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the strongest of the north African sides, able both of overwhelming rivals and playing on the counter, securing qualification with a 100% record.

Group D

Early last year, the USA seemed in a poor state, losing to Panama and Canada in the Concacaf Nations League and to Turkey and Switzerland in friendlies. But over the past year, Mauricio Pochettino has apparently begun to get his ideas across and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will start against the Paraguayan side, who are competing in their sixth finals. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has led to both group-stage exits and a last-eight appearance. Their familiar defensive mindset has not altered: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most free-flowing Australia team and their squad lacks clear 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 immense pressure in their last two fixtures. The group’s fourth team will come from the victor of the European playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

After successive group-stage exits, Die Mannschaft are no longer the feared force of old. The shift to a more attacking philosophy has brought a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like posing a massive challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualifying, 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, protected by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a mere five.

Côte d’Ivoire exist in a state of constant declinism, where nothing is ever quite successful as the golden generation of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. Following an implausible continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualification, scoring 25 goals and conceding reply.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe lack the galacticos of previous Dutch eras, but they qualified without losing and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualification, consistently appears a more reliable player with his country's side than at domestic level. They open against the Japanese team, who will play in their eighth successive finals, and were by some way the most dominant of the Asian sides in qualifying, suffering one of their 16 games across the two phases, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia made sure of a third straight World Cup berth by topping a manageable qualifying group, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are perhaps not as dour as some past Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 separate scorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the UEFA playoff (against Ukraine in the semi, 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.

Pool G

Belgium and the Pharaohs are emerging from the legacy of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualifying, scoring the net eight times but letting in five in two wins over Wales, finding goals freely 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 not managed to qualify during their peak period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully fulfilled their potential on the global 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 unbeaten.

A guaranteed place for Oceania essentially equated to 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. Team Melli, who lost only once in a difficult third-round qualifying group, are on a travel ban, potentially