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Group A

This initial fixture at the historic Azteca venue will replay the first game from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's elimination phase record at the global tournament features just a single win, achieved against Bulgaria when they previously were hosts in 1986. Their manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that squad and will be aiming for a third quarter-final appearance as hosts. The South African side, led by veteran Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first finals since they hosted, ending above Nigeria and Benin despite having a victory over Lesotho given against them for using an suspended player.

This will represent South Korea's eleventh straight World Cup appearance. Legend Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and came in third place in the Best Player voting when South Korea made the semi-final in 2002. Hong is now their manager and led them without a loss through a anything but easy qualifying section. The final team in Group A will be the victor of a European qualifying play-off featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

The Canadian team have made it for the World Cup twice and, while Qatar 2022 yielded their maiden finals goal, it did not bring their first-ever finals point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of probably the best squad in their history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How kind the group appears hinges mostly on whether the Italian national team progress 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, Switzerland have got through the initial phase in four of the last five World Cups and were last-eight participants at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified unbeaten from arguably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players hoping to feature at their fourth finals. The Qatari team, having finished in fourth in their third-round qualification group, were given a significant advantage by being selected as a tournament host for the final phase and secured qualification with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is drawn exclusively from the domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland's return to the finals in 28 years looks a lot like their previous appearance, when they were defeated to Brazil and the Atlas Lions; Haiti take the spot of Norway. Their aim will be to make it to the knockout phase for the first time after 8 previous group-stage exits. Haiti’s only previous World Cup, in 1974, was remembered less for their three losses than for the ordeal that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a drugs test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have restricted away support due to a travel ban from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third coach in a qualification campaign that featured a run of three consecutive defeats, but there is minimal jeopardy in South American qualification these days. He has overseen 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, qualifying with a 100% win record.

Pool D

Early last year, the United States seemed in a poor condition, suffering defeats to Panama and Canada in the Concacaf Nations League and to Turkey and Switzerland in friendly matches. But over the last year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his message across and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will begin against Paraguay, who are playing in their sixth finals. 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 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 team and their roster lacks obvious stars, but despite an iffy start 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 final two matches. The pool's final team will emerge from the winner of the European Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

After successive group-stage eliminations, Die Mannschaft are no longer the feared force of old. The transition to a more attacking philosophy has brought a fragility and the group initially looked like presenting a massive test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualification, finishing in second place behind Argentina in South America. While they netted 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, let in a paltry five.

Côte d’Ivoire exist in a state of constant pessimism, where nothing is ever quite good 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 transformative. After an improbable continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualification, scoring 25 goals and conceding none.

The tiniest country ever to qualify, Curaçao, were the fourth team drawn, however, making the group look a lot less daunting than it might have been.

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side perhaps do not possess the star quality of past Dutch generations, but they secured qualification without losing and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, consistently appears a more reliable performer with his national side than at domestic level. They open against the Japanese team, who will play in their eighth consecutive finals, and were by some way the most dominant of the Asian sides in qualification, suffering one of their 16 games across the two groups, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side secured of a third straight World Cup appearance by topping a manageable qualifying group, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are maybe not as defensive as some past Tunisian teams; they had a staggering 14 different goalscorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the UEFA play-off (against Ukraine in the semi-final, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will create a rematch of the group stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first executed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

Belgium and Egypt are moving on 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 easily 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 qualify during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully done themselves justice on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them attacking threat, but it was a defensive unit that allowed only twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified undefeated.

A guaranteed place for Oceania effectively meant a spot at the finals for the All Whites, who cruised through qualifying, winning five games out of five, netting 29 goals, nine of them by Chris Wood, but they are the lowest-ranked side to have secured their place in North America next summer. Team Melli, who were defeated only once in a tricky third phase qualification section, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially