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Pool A

This initial fixture at the historic Azteca Stadium will mirror the opener from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's elimination stage record at the global showpiece includes just one win, secured against Bulgaria when they previously hosted in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that team and will be aiming for a third last-eight appearance as tournament hosts. South Africa, led by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first finals since they hosted, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite having a victory over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an ineligible footballer.

This will represent Korea Republic's 11th consecutive finals qualification. Icon Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and finished in third place in the Golden Ball voting when South Korea reached the semi-final in 2002. He is now their coach and guided them unbeaten through a anything but easy qualifying section. The final side in Group A will be the winner of a UEFA playoff featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

Canada have qualified for the World Cup twice and, while Qatar 2022 brought their maiden finals goal, it did not deliver their first point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of probably the best group of players in their history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How favorable the draw appears hinges largely on whether Italy progress through the European playoff (the remaining three teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have got through the initial phase in four of the last five tournaments and were quarter-finalists at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket unbeaten from arguably the easiest of the UEFA groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players hoping to play at their fourth finals. Qatar, having ended up in fourth in their third phase qualifying group, were handed a significant advantage by being selected as a host for the final round and secured progress with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is drawn entirely from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland first finals in 28 years looks a lot like their last appearance, when they were defeated to the Seleção and Morocco; the Haitian team occupy the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the elimination phase for the first time after eight prior group phase eliminations. Haiti’s only previous World Cup, in 1974, was remembered less for their three losses than for the fate that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a doping 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 manager in a qualification campaign that featured a run of three consecutive losses, but there is little jeopardy in South American qualification these days. He has overseen a noticeable upturn in form. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the strongest of the north African nations, capable both of dominating rivals and playing on the counter, qualifying with a perfect win record.

Group D

At the start of last year, the USA seemed in a dismal 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 apparently begun to get his ideas understood and in November the USA beat 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 record that has led to both group phase eliminations and a quarter-final place. Their familiar cautious mindset has not changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most free-flowing Australia 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 beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their last two matches. The pool's final team will emerge from the winner of Europe’s Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

After back-to-back group-stage eliminations, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more attacking philosophy has introduced a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like posing a huge test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the surprise package of qualifying, ending up second behind Argentina in South America. While they netted only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline including Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a mere five.

Ivory Coast live in a state of constant declinism, where nothing is ever as 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 inspirational. After an improbable continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualifying, scoring 25 goals and conceding none.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side maybe do not possess the galacticos of previous Dutch generations, but they secured qualification unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, always appears a more reliable player with his national side than at domestic level. They begin against Japan, who will play in their eighth successive finals, and were by far the most impressive of the Asian sides in qualifying, suffering one of their 16 games across the two phases, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side secured of a third consecutive World Cup berth by topping a manageable qualifying group, picking up 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are perhaps not as dour as some past Tunisian teams; they had a remarkable 14 separate goalscorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it 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 iconic Cruyff Turn.

Group G

Belgium and the Pharaohs are emerging from the shadow of golden 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 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 attacking threat, but it was a defensive unit that conceded only twice in 10 games that meant they qualified unbeaten.

A reserved place for Oceania effectively 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. Iran, who lost only once in a difficult third-round qualifying group, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially