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Group A

The opening game at the famous Azteca Stadium will mirror the first game from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with El Tri. The Mexican team's elimination stage history at the global tournament includes just one victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they previously were hosts in 1986. Their manager, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that squad and will be targeting a third-ever quarter-final berth as tournament hosts. South Africa, led by veteran Belgian manager Hugo Broos, qualified for their first World Cup since they hosted, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a win over Lesotho awarded against them for using an ineligible player.

It will mark Korea Republic's 11th consecutive World Cup appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came third in the Golden Ball voting when South Korea made the last four in 2002. He is now their manager and led them without a loss through a far from easy qualifying group. The fourth team in Group A will be the winner of a European qualifying play-off featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

The Canadian team have qualified for the World Cup on two occasions and, although Qatar 2022 yielded their first finals goal, it did not deliver their first-ever finals point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of arguably the best squad in their history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How favorable the draw appears hinges mostly on whether the Italian national team progress through the UEFA playoff (the other 3 contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have got through the group stage in four of the past five tournaments and were last-eight participants at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified without defeat from probably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players aiming to feature at their fourth World Cups. The Qatari team, having finished fourth in their third phase qualification group, were given a major advantage by being selected as a tournament host for the final phase and clinched progress with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected entirely from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland return to the World Cup in 28 years looks a lot like their previous outing, when they lost to Brazil and Morocco; the Haitian team take the place of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the elimination phase for the first time after 8 prior group phase eliminations. Haiti’s only prior World Cup, in 1974, was remembered less for their three losses than for the ordeal that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a drugs test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have limited traveling support due to a travel ban involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third manager in a qualification campaign that included a run of three successive losses, but there is little jeopardy in South American qualification these days. He has presided over 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-attack, qualifying with a 100% record.

Group D

At the start of last year, the United States 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 message understood and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will start against the Paraguayan side, who are playing in their sixth World Cup. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has led to both group-stage exits and a quarter-final appearance. Their trademark defensive mindset has not altered: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most free-flowing Australian side and their roster lacks clear stars, but in spite of an iffy beginning to the third round 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 group’s fourth team will come from the winner of Europe’s playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

Following back-to-back group-stage eliminations, Germany are no longer the bogeymen of old. The shift to a more progressive philosophy has introduced a fragility and the group initially looked like posing a massive challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the revelations of qualification, ending up in second place behind Argentina in South America. Although they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline featuring 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 permanent pessimism, where nothing is ever as good as the glorious squad 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 implausible continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualifying, netting 25 goals without reply.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe lack the galacticos of previous Dutch eras, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, always appears a more reliable performer with his national side than at domestic level. They begin against Japan, who will participate in their 8th successive World Cup, and were by some way the most dominant of the Asian sides 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 straight finals appearance by topping a manageable qualifying group, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as defensive as certain previous Tunisian teams; they had a staggering 14 separate scorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the European play-off (against Ukraine in the semi-final, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will create a repeat of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first executed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Group G

The Belgian Red Devils and Egypt are emerging from the legacy 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 easily at times, but also laboring to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most successful side in African football history, but having failed 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 cutting edge, but it was a defence that allowed just twice in 10 games that meant they qualified unbeaten.

A reserved place for Oceania essentially meant a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who cruised through qualifying, 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 were defeated only once in a difficult third-round qualification section, are on a travel ban, potentially