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Group A

The initial fixture at the historic Azteca Stadium will mirror the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with El Tri. The Mexican team's elimination stage history at the global showpiece features just a single win, secured against Bulgaria when they previously were hosts in 1986. Their manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be targeting a third quarter-final berth as hosts. The South African side, led by veteran Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first finals since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a victory over Lesotho given against them for using an suspended player.

It will represent Korea Republic's eleventh straight World Cup qualification. Legend Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and finished in third place in the Best Player voting when South Korea made the semi-final in 2002. He is now their manager and guided them without a loss through a far from straightforward qualification group. The final side in Group A will be the winner of a UEFA qualifying play-off featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

Canada have qualified for the global finals twice and, although Qatar 2022 brought their maiden finals goal, it did not deliver their first-ever finals point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of probably the most talented group of players in their history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which kind the draw appears hinges largely on whether the Italian national team progress through the UEFA play-off (the other 3 contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have navigated the group stage in four of the past five tournaments and were quarter-finalists at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified unbeaten from probably the most straightforward of the UEFA groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players aiming to play at their fourth finals. Qatar, having ended up in fourth in their third-round qualifying section, were given a significant advantage by being selected as a tournament host for the final phase and secured qualification with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is drawn entirely from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland's first finals in 28 years looks a lot like their last appearance, when they were defeated to Brazil and the Atlas Lions; the Haitian team occupy the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to make it to the elimination stage for the very first time after 8 previous group phase exits. Haiti’s only previous World Cup, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats than for the fate that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a doping 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 qualifying process that included a run of three consecutive defeats, but there is little jeopardy in South American qualification these days. He has presided over a clear upturn in form. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the best of the north African nations, capable both of dominating opponents and playing on the counter, qualifying with a 100% record.

Pool D

At the start of last year, the USA seemed in a dismal condition, 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 seemingly begun to get his message understood and in November the USA beat Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will start against the Paraguayan side, who are competing in their sixth World Cup. They have secured one game at each of the prior five, a statistic that has led to both group-stage exits and a last-eight appearance. Their familiar cautious mindset hasn't changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australian team and their roster is without obvious stars, 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 last two matches. The pool's final team will come from the winner of the European Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

After back-to-back group phase exits, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The shift to a more progressive philosophy has introduced a fragility and the draw initially looked like posing a massive test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the surprise package of qualifying, ending up second behind Argentina in South America. While they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a defence including Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a mere five.

Côte d’Ivoire live in a state of constant declinism, where nothing is ever quite good 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. Following an implausible continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, netting 25 goals and conceding reply.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side perhaps lack the star quality of past Dutch eras, but they qualified without losing and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, consistently appears a more reliable player with his national side than at club level. They begin against Japan, who will participate in their eighth successive finals, and were by far the most dominant of the Asian sides in qualifying, losing one of their 16 games across the two phases, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side secured of a third consecutive finals appearance by dominating a manageable qualification section, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as defensive as some previous Tunisian teams; they had a remarkable 14 different 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 create a repeat of the group stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first executed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Group G

The Belgian Red Devils and the Pharaohs are moving on from the shadow of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, scoring the net eight times but conceding 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 decorated side in African football 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 attacking threat, but it was a defensive unit that allowed only twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified undefeated.

A guaranteed place for Oceania essentially equated to a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who sailed through qualification, 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. Iran, who were defeated once in a difficult third phase qualifying section, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly