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Group A

The first fixture at the famous Azteca venue will replay the opener from 2010, when South Africa drew 1-1 with El Tri. The Mexican team's knockout phase record at the worldwide showpiece features just a single win, secured against Bulgaria when they previously were hosts in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that team and will be aiming for a third-ever last-eight berth as tournament hosts. South Africa, led by experienced Belgian tactician 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 player.

This will represent South Korea's 11th successive finals qualification. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished third in the Golden Ball award when South Korea made the semi-final in 2002. Hong is now their manager and guided them without a loss through a far from easy qualification section. The fourth side in Group A will be the winner of a European qualifying play-off involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

Canada have qualified for the global finals on two occasions and, while Qatar 2022 brought their maiden finals goal, it did not deliver their first finals point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of probably the best squad in their nation's history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which kind the draw appears depends largely on whether the Italian national team make it through the UEFA play-off (the remaining 3 contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have navigated the initial phase in four of the past five World Cups and were quarter-finalists at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket unbeaten from probably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players aiming to play at their fourth World Cups. The Qatari team, having finished fourth in their third phase qualification group, were given a major boost by being chosen as a host for the fourth round and secured progress with a 2-1 victory 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 Brazil and the Atlas Lions; Haiti take the place of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the knockout stage for the very first time after 8 previous group phase exits. Haiti’s sole previous World Cup, in 1974, was notable less for their three defeats than for the fate that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a drugs test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have limited away support due to travel restrictions from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third coach in a qualifying process that included a run of three successive losses, but there is little risk in South American qualification these days. He has overseen a noticeable upturn in form. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the strongest of the north African sides, able both of dominating rivals and playing on the counter, securing qualification with a perfect win record.

Pool D

At the start of 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 friendly matches. But over the past year, Mauricio Pochettino has apparently begun to get his message understood and in November the USA beat Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will begin against the Paraguayan side, who are playing in their sixth World Cup. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a record that has resulted to both group phase eliminations and a quarter-final appearance. Their trademark cautious mindset has not changed: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australian side and their roster lacks obvious stars, but despite an shaky start to the third phase of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side made it by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their final two fixtures. The pool's fourth team will emerge from the winner of Europe’s Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following back-to-back group-stage exits, Germany are no longer the feared force of old. The shift to a more attacking philosophy has introduced a fragility and the draw initially looked like posing a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualifying, ending up 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, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, let in a paltry five.

Côte d’Ivoire exist in a state of constant declinism, where nothing is ever quite successful as the glorious squad of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. After an implausible continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, netting 25 goals and conceding none.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side perhaps lack the galacticos of previous Dutch eras, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, consistently looks a more reliable player with his country's side than at club level. They begin against the Japanese team, who will play in their eighth successive finals, and were by far the most impressive of the Asian sides in qualifying, 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 straight World Cup appearance by topping a manageable qualifying group, picking up 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are perhaps not as dour as certain past Tunisian teams; they had a remarkable 14 different scorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the European play-off (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 performed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

The Belgian Red Devils 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 not managed to qualify during their peak 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 defence that allowed only twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified unbeaten.

A reserved place for Oceania effectively equated to a spot at the finals for the All Whites, who cruised 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 booked their place in North America next summer. Iran, who were defeated only once in a difficult third phase qualification section, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially