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Pool A

The initial fixture at the famous Azteca Stadium will echo the opener from 2010, when South Africa drew 1-1 with Mexico. The Mexican team's elimination stage record at the global showpiece includes just a single win, achieved against Bulgaria when they last were hosts in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be aiming for a third-ever last-eight berth as tournament hosts. The South African side, led by veteran Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial finals since they hosted, ending above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a win over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an ineligible player.

It will mark Korea Republic's eleventh successive finals appearance. Legend Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and finished in third place in the Best Player award when South Korea made the semi-final in 2002. He is now their coach and guided them unbeaten through a far from straightforward qualification section. The fourth side in Group A will be the winner of a European playoff involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

Canada have qualified for the World Cup twice and, while Qatar 2022 yielded their maiden goal, it did not bring their first-ever finals point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of probably the best squad in their history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How favorable the draw looks depends largely on whether the Italian national team make it through the UEFA playoff (the remaining 3 contenders 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 last-eight participants at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified unbeaten from probably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players aiming to feature at their fourth finals. Qatar, having ended up in fourth in their third-round qualifying section, were handed a major boost by being selected as a host for the fourth round and clinched progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is selected entirely from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland return to the World Cup 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 make it to the elimination stage for the very first time after 8 prior group phase exits. Haiti’s sole previous World Cup, in 1974, was remembered less for their three losses than for the fate that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a doping test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have limited away support due to travel restrictions from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third manager in a qualifying campaign that included a run of three successive defeats, but there is minimal risk in South American qualifying these days. He has presided over a clear improvement. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the strongest of the north African nations, capable both of dominating opponents and playing on the counter, qualifying with a perfect win record.

Group 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 past 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 sixth finals. They have won one game at each of the prior five, a statistic that has resulted to both group phase exits and a quarter-final place. Their trademark cautious approach hasn't altered: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most free-flowing Australian team and their squad is without obvious stars, but in spite of an iffy start to the third phase of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their final two fixtures. The pool'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 bogeymen of old. The transition to a more progressive style has introduced a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like presenting a massive test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualification, ending up second behind Argentina in South America. Although they scored 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, let in a mere five.

Côte d’Ivoire exist in a state of permanent pessimism, where nothing is ever quite successful as the golden squad of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge 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 tiniest country ever to reach the finals, Curaçao, were the fourth team drawn, though, making the group look a lot far less intimidating than it might have appeared.

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe do not possess the galacticos of past Dutch eras, but they secured qualification without losing and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualification, consistently appears a more effective performer with his country's side than at club level. They begin against the Japanese team, who will play in their eighth successive finals, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian sides in qualifying, suffering one of their 16 games over the two phases, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side secured of a third straight finals berth by topping a straightforward qualification group, picking up 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are perhaps not as defensive as some past Tunisian teams; they had a remarkable 14 separate scorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the European playoff (against Ukraine in the semi, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will set up a repeat of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Group G

The Belgian Red Devils 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, finding goals easily at times, but also struggling to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most decorated side in African history, but having not managed to qualify during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite done themselves justice on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defensive unit that conceded only twice in 10 games that meant they qualified unbeaten.

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, scoring 29 goals, nine of them by Chris Wood, but they are the lowest-ranked side to have secured their place in North America next summer. Team Melli, who were defeated once in a tricky third phase qualifying section, are on a travel ban, possibly