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Group A

The initial match at the historic Azteca venue will echo the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's elimination phase record at the worldwide tournament features just one victory, secured against Bulgaria when they previously hosted in 1986. Their manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be aiming for a third-ever quarter-final appearance as tournament hosts. The South African side, led by veteran Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, qualified for their first finals since they hosted, finishing above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a victory over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an suspended footballer.

It will mark Korea Republic's 11th straight finals qualification. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came in third place in the Golden Ball award when South Korea made the last four in 2002. Hong is now their coach and led them without a loss through a far from straightforward qualification section. The final team in Group A will be the winner of a UEFA playoff involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

Canada have made it for the global finals on two occasions and, while Qatar 2022 yielded their first goal, it did not deliver their first point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of probably the most talented group of players in their nation's history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which favorable the group looks hinges largely on whether the Italian national team make it through the UEFA 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 group stage in four of the past five World Cups and were quarter-finalists at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified unbeaten from arguably the easiest of the UEFA groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players hoping to feature at their fourth finals. The Qatari team, having ended up in fourth in their third-round qualification section, were given a major boost by being chosen as a tournament host for the fourth round and secured progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is drawn exclusively from the Qatari league.

Pool C

Scotland first finals in 28 years bears a lot like their previous outing, when they lost to the Seleção and Morocco; Haiti occupy the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the elimination stage for the very first time after eight previous group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s only prior finals, in 1974, was notable less for their three defeats than for the fate that befell 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 away 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 streak of three consecutive defeats, but there is minimal 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 dominating opponents and playing on the counter, 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 past year, Mauricio Pochettino has apparently begun to get his ideas across and in November the USA beat Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will start against the Paraguayan side, who are playing in their 6th World Cup. They have secured 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 hasn't altered: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most free-flowing Australia team and their squad is without clear stars, but despite an iffy beginning to the third phase of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their last two fixtures. The pool's fourth team will emerge from the victor of Europe’s Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

After successive group phase exits, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The shift to a more progressive philosophy has brought a fragility and the draw initially looked like posing a huge test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualifying, finishing second behind Argentina in South America. While they netted only 14 goals in 18 games, a defence featuring Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a mere five.

Côte d’Ivoire exist in a state of permanent declinism, where nothing is ever as successful as the golden squad of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. Following an improbable continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualifying, netting 25 goals without none.

The smallest country ever to reach the finals, the Curaçao team, were the fourth team picked, though, making the group look a lot less daunting than it might have appeared.

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe lack the galacticos of past Dutch generations, but they qualified without losing and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualification, consistently looks a more reliable performer with his national side than at domestic level. They open against the Japanese team, who will participate in their eighth successive finals, and were by far the most impressive of the Asian nations in qualification, losing one of their 16 games over the two phases, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia made sure of a third consecutive finals berth by dominating a manageable qualifying section, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are perhaps not as defensive as some previous Tunisian teams; they had a remarkable 14 separate 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 game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Group G

Belgium and Egypt are moving on from the shadow of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualifying, finding 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 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 world stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defensive unit 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 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 FIFA-ranked side to have booked their place in North America next summer. Team Melli, who were defeated once in a tricky third phase qualification section, are on a travel ban, possibly