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Pool A

The opening game at the historic Azteca venue will replay the opener from 2010, when Bafana Bafana drew 1-1 with El Tri. The Mexican team's knockout phase history at the worldwide showpiece includes just one win, secured against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be targeting a third last-eight appearance as tournament hosts. South Africa, coached by veteran Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial World Cup since they hosted, finishing above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a victory over Lesotho given against them for using an ineligible player.

This will represent Korea Republic's eleventh consecutive World Cup appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came in third place in the Best Player award when South Korea made the semi-final in 2002. Hong is now their coach and guided them without a loss through a anything but easy qualifying section. The fourth side in Group A will be the winner of a European playoff 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, while Qatar 2022 yielded their first finals goal, it did not bring their first point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of arguably the best squad in their history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which kind the group looks depends mostly on whether Italy make it through the UEFA playoff (the remaining three contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have navigated the group stage in four of the last five tournaments and were last-eight participants at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified unbeaten from arguably the most straightforward of the UEFA groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players hoping to play at their fourth finals. Qatar, having finished in fourth in their third-round qualifying section, were handed a significant boost by being selected as a host for the fourth phase and clinched progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is drawn entirely from the domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland return to the World Cup in 28 years looks a lot like their last outing, when they lost to the Seleção and the Atlas Lions; the Haitian team take the spot of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the elimination phase for the very first time after 8 previous group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s sole prior finals, in 1974, was notable less for their three losses than for the ordeal that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a drugs test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have limited traveling support due to travel restrictions from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third manager in a qualification campaign that featured a streak of three successive defeats, but there is little jeopardy in South American qualifying these days. He has overseen a clear upturn in form. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the strongest of the north African nations, capable both of overwhelming opponents and playing on the counter, securing qualification with a 100% win record.

Pool D

At the start of last year, the United States seemed in a poor state, losing 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 understood and in November the USA beat Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will start against Paraguay, who are competing in their 6th finals. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has resulted to both group phase exits and a last-eight appearance. Their familiar defensive approach has not changed: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most free-flowing Australian team and their roster is without obvious stars, but in spite of an shaky start to the third phase of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side made it by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their final two matches. The pool's fourth team will emerge from the winner of Europe’s Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

After back-to-back group phase eliminations, Die Mannschaft are no longer the feared force of old. The transition to a more attacking philosophy has brought a vulnerability and the group initially looked like presenting a massive test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualification, finishing in second place behind Argentina in South America. Although they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a defence featuring 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 constant pessimism, where nothing is ever as good 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 transformative. Following an improbable continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualification, netting 25 goals without reply.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side perhaps do not possess the galacticos of previous Dutch eras, but they secured qualification unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, always looks a more reliable player with his national side than at domestic level. They open against Japan, who will participate in their eighth successive World Cup, and were by far the most dominant of the Asian nations in qualification, suffering one of their 16 games across the two phases, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side secured of a third straight finals berth by dominating a manageable qualification group, picking up 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as dour as some past Tunisian sides; they had a remarkable 14 separate goalscorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the UEFA playoff (against Ukraine in the semi-final, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will create a rematch of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

The Belgian Red Devils and the Pharaohs are moving on from the shadow of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualification, scoring the net eight times but conceding 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 successful side in African football history, but having not managed to reach the finals during their peak period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite fulfilled their potential on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them attacking threat, but it was a defence that conceded only twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified undefeated.

A guaranteed place for Oceania effectively meant a spot at the finals for the All Whites, who sailed through qualification, 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 once in a tricky third phase qualification group, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly