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Pool A

The initial game at the iconic Azteca Stadium will mirror the opener from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with Mexico. Mexico's knockout stage history at the worldwide tournament includes just a single win, achieved against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. Their coach, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that squad and will be aiming for a third quarter-final appearance as hosts. The South African side, coached by veteran Belgian manager Hugo Broos, qualified for their initial finals since they hosted, ending above Nigeria and Benin despite having a victory over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an suspended player.

This will mark South Korea's 11th straight finals qualification. Icon 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. He is now their manager and led them unbeaten through a far from straightforward qualification group. The final side in Group A will be the victor of a UEFA qualifying play-off featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

The Canadian team have qualified for the global finals twice and, while Qatar 2022 brought their first goal, it did not bring their first-ever finals point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of probably the most talented group of players in their history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which kind the draw looks depends mostly on whether Italy make it through the UEFA playoff (the other 3 contenders 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 past five tournaments and were last-eight participants at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket without defeat from probably the most straightforward of the UEFA groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players hoping to feature at their fourth finals. Qatar, having finished fourth in their third phase qualification group, were handed a major advantage by being selected as a tournament host for the final phase and secured qualification with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected exclusively from the Qatari league.

Pool C

Scotland first finals in 28 years bears 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 knockout stage for the first time after eight prior group phase eliminations. Haiti’s only previous World Cup, in 1974, was notable less for their three losses than for the fate that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a doping test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have restricted traveling support due to a travel ban from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third coach in a qualifying process that featured a run of three consecutive losses, but there is little risk in South American qualification these days. He has presided over a clear improvement. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the best of the north African nations, capable both of overwhelming rivals and playing on the counter-attack, securing qualification with a perfect win record.

Group D

Early last year, the United States seemed in a dismal state, suffering defeats to Panama and Canada in the Concacaf Nations League and to Turkey and Switzerland in friendlies. But over the last year, Mauricio Pochettino has apparently begun to get his message across and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will begin against the Paraguayan side, who are playing in their 6th World Cup. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has resulted to both group phase eliminations and a quarter-final place. Their familiar cautious approach has not changed: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australia team and their squad lacks clear superstars, but despite an iffy beginning to the third round of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their last two matches. The pool's fourth team will come from the victor of the European Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

After back-to-back group phase eliminations, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The shift to a more attacking style has introduced a fragility and the draw initially looked like posing a massive test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the revelations of qualifying, finishing second 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, conceded a mere five.

Ivory Coast live in a state of permanent pessimism, where nothing is ever as good as the glorious generation 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 triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualifying, netting 25 goals and conceding reply.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe lack the star quality of previous Dutch generations, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualification, always looks a more reliable player with his national side than at club level. They open against the Japanese team, who will play in their 8th successive World Cup, and were by far the most impressive of the Asian sides in qualifying, suffering one of their 16 games over the two groups, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia made sure of a third consecutive World Cup berth by topping a manageable qualification section, picking up 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are maybe not as defensive as certain previous Tunisian sides; they had a remarkable 14 different scorers in qualifying. 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 set up a rematch of the group stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

The Belgian Red Devils and the Pharaohs are emerging from the shadow of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualification, finding the net eight times but conceding 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 history, but having failed to qualify during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite fulfilled their potential on the world stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them attacking threat, but it was a defensive unit that allowed only twice in 10 games that meant they qualified undefeated.

A guaranteed place for Oceania essentially equated to a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who cruised through qualification, winning five games out of five, netting 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. Team Melli, who lost once in a difficult third-round qualification group, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially