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Pool A

The first game at the iconic Azteca Stadium will echo the opener from 2010, when South Africa drew 1-1 with El Tri. The Mexican team's knockout phase record at the worldwide showpiece includes just a single victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they previously hosted in 1986. The coach, 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 tactician Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first finals since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a victory over Lesotho awarded against them for using an suspended player.

This will represent South Korea's eleventh straight finals appearance. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished in third place in the Best Player award when South Korea made the semi-final in 2002. Hong is now their manager and guided them without a loss through a anything but easy qualifying group. The fourth team in Group A will be the winner of a European playoff involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

Canada have qualified for the global finals twice and, although Qatar 2022 brought their first goal, it did not deliver their first finals point. Jesse Marsch is the manager 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. How favorable the group appears hinges mostly 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 got through the group stage in four of the past five World Cups and were last-eight participants at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified without defeat from arguably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast individuals hoping to play at their fourth finals. Qatar, having finished fourth in their third-round qualification group, were given a major boost by being selected as a host for the final phase and secured qualification with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected entirely from the domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland's return to the World Cup in 28 years looks a lot like their last appearance, when they were defeated to the Seleção and the Atlas Lions; Haiti occupy the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the knockout stage for the first time after 8 previous group phase eliminations. Haiti’s only 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 drugs test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have restricted traveling support due to a travel ban from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third coach in a qualification process that featured a run of three consecutive losses, but there is little jeopardy in South American qualification these days. He has presided over a clear improvement. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the best of the north African sides, capable both of overwhelming opponents and playing on the counter-attack, securing qualification with a 100% record.

Pool D

At the start of last year, the United States seemed in a poor condition, losing 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 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 Paraguay, who are playing in their sixth World Cup. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has led to both group-stage eliminations and a last-eight appearance. Their trademark defensive mindset has not altered: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most free-flowing Australian team and their squad lacks clear stars, but in spite of an iffy beginning to the third phase of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side made it by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their last two fixtures. The pool's final team will come from the victor of Europe’s playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

After back-to-back group phase eliminations, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more attacking philosophy has introduced a fragility and the group initially looked like posing a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the revelations of qualifying, ending up second behind Argentina in South America. Although they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a defence including Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, protected by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a mere five.

Ivory Coast exist in a state of permanent declinism, where nothing is ever quite successful as the glorious generation of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved transformative. After an improbable continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualifying, scoring 25 goals without none.

The smallest country ever to reach the finals, the Curaçao team, were the fourth team picked, however, making the group look a lot less intimidating than it could have been.

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe do not possess the star quality of past Dutch eras, but they secured qualification unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, always looks a more effective player with his country's side than at club level. They begin against Japan, who will play in their 8th consecutive finals, and were by far the most impressive of the Asian nations in qualifying, suffering one of their 16 games over the two groups, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side made sure of a third straight finals berth by topping a straightforward qualification section, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as defensive as certain previous Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 separate goalscorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the UEFA playoff (against Ukraine in the semi-final, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will set up a rematch of the group stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first executed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

The Belgian Red Devils and Egypt are emerging from the legacy of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, 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 decorated side in African football 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 global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defensive unit that conceded only twice in 10 games that meant they qualified undefeated.

A guaranteed place for Oceania effectively equated to a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who cruised through qualifying, winning five games out of five, scoring 29 goals, nine of them by Chris Wood, but they are the lowest-ranked side to have booked their place in North America next summer. Iran, who lost once in a difficult third-round qualifying group, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly