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Group A

The first fixture at the iconic Azteca Stadium will mirror the opener from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with El Tri. The Mexican team's elimination stage record at the worldwide showpiece features just a single victory, secured against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. Their manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that squad and will be targeting a third-ever quarter-final berth as hosts. The South African side, led by experienced Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial World Cup since hosting, ending above Nigeria and Benin despite having a win over Lesotho awarded against them for using an suspended player.

This will mark South Korea's eleventh consecutive World Cup qualification. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished third in the Golden Ball voting when South Korea reached the semi-final in 2002. He is now their coach and led them without a loss through a anything but straightforward qualifying section. The final side in Group A will be the victor of a UEFA playoff featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

Canada have made it for the World Cup twice and, while Qatar 2022 brought their maiden finals goal, it did not deliver their first finals point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of probably the most talented group of players in their nation's history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which favorable the draw looks depends largely on whether the Italian national team make it through the European play-off (the other three contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have got through the initial phase in four of the past five World Cups 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 groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players aiming to play at their fourth finals. The Qatari team, having ended up fourth in their third-round qualification section, were handed a significant boost by being chosen as a tournament host for the fourth phase and secured qualification with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected entirely from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland first World Cup in 28 years looks a lot like their previous appearance, when they were defeated to the Seleção and Morocco; the Haitian team occupy the spot of Norway. Their aim will be to make it to the knockout stage for the first time after eight previous group-stage exits. Haiti’s sole prior World Cup, 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 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 successive losses, but there is minimal jeopardy in South American qualification these days. He has overseen a clear upturn in form. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the strongest of the north African nations, capable both of overwhelming opponents and playing on the counter-attack, securing qualification with a perfect record.

Group D

At the start of last year, the United States seemed in a dismal state, losing to Panama and Canada in the Concacaf Nations League and to Turkey and Switzerland in friendly matches. But over the past year, Mauricio Pochettino has apparently begun to get his ideas across and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will start against Paraguay, who are playing in their 6th World Cup. They have won one game at each of the prior five, a statistic that has led to both group phase exits and a last-eight place. Their familiar cautious mindset hasn't changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most fluent Australian side and their roster lacks clear superstars, but in spite of an shaky beginning to the third phase of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side made it by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their final two matches. The group’s fourth team will come from the victor of Europe’s Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

After back-to-back group-stage eliminations, Die Mannschaft are no longer the feared force of old. The shift to a more attacking philosophy has brought a fragility 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. Although they netted 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, let in a mere five.

Côte d’Ivoire live in a state of permanent pessimism, where nothing is ever as successful as the golden generation of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Emerse Faé has proved transformative. Following an implausible 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, Curaçao, were the fourth team picked, however, making the group look a lot far less intimidating than it might have appeared.

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side perhaps do not possess the star quality of previous Dutch eras, but they qualified without losing and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualification, always appears a more reliable player with his national side than at domestic level. They open against Japan, who will play in their eighth consecutive World Cup, and were by some way the most dominant of the Asian nations in qualification, suffering one of their 16 games across the two phases, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia secured of a third straight finals berth by topping a straightforward qualifying section, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as defensive as some previous Tunisian sides; they had a remarkable 14 different goalscorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the UEFA playoff (against Ukraine in the semi-final, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will set up a repeat of the group stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first executed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Group G

Belgium and Egypt are emerging from the legacy of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualification, finding the net eight times but letting in five in two wins over Wales, finding goals freely at times, but also struggling to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most decorated side in African history, but having failed to reach the finals 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 conceded just twice in 10 games that meant they qualified unbeaten.

A reserved place for Oceania effectively 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 secured their place in North America next summer. Team Melli, who were defeated once in a difficult third-round qualification group, are on a travel ban, possibly