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Group A

The opening match at the historic Azteca venue will replay the opener from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with El Tri. The Mexican team's knockout stage record at the worldwide showpiece includes just one win, secured against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that team and will be targeting a third quarter-final berth as tournament hosts. The South African side, led by veteran Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first finals since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin even after having a victory over Lesotho given against them for fielding an ineligible footballer.

It will mark South Korea's 11th consecutive finals appearance. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished in third place in the Best Player voting when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. He is now their coach and led them without a loss through a far from straightforward qualifying section. The fourth side in Group A will be the victor of a UEFA qualifying play-off featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

Canada have made it for the global finals on two occasions and, while Qatar 2022 brought their first finals goal, it did not bring their first-ever point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of probably the most talented squad in their nation's history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How kind the group looks hinges mostly on whether Italy make it through the European playoff (the other three teams 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 past five World Cups and were quarter-finalists at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified without defeat from probably the most straightforward of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players hoping to feature at their fourth World Cups. Qatar, having ended up in fourth in their third-round qualification group, were given a significant boost by being selected as a host for the final round and secured progress with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is drawn exclusively 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 Morocco; the Haitian team occupy the spot of Norway. Their primary objective will be to make it to the knockout stage for the first time after eight prior group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s only prior finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three losses than for the fate that happened to 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 a travel ban from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third manager in a qualifying process that featured a streak of three consecutive defeats, but there is little risk in South American qualifying these days. He has overseen a clear improvement. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the best of the north African nations, capable both of overwhelming opponents and playing on the counter, qualifying with a perfect record.

Group D

Early 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 friendly matches. But over the past year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his ideas across and in November the USA beat Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will start against the Paraguayan side, who are competing in their sixth finals. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has led to both group phase exits and a quarter-final place. Their familiar cautious mindset hasn't changed: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most fluent Australian side and their roster lacks clear stars, but despite an shaky start to the third phase of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their last two fixtures. The group’s fourth team will emerge from the victor of the European Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

Following back-to-back group phase exits, Die Mannschaft are no longer the feared force of old. The shift to a more attacking philosophy has introduced a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like presenting a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualifying, finishing in second place behind Argentina in South America. Although they netted only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline featuring Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, protected by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, let in a paltry five.

Côte d’Ivoire live in a state of constant pessimism, where nothing is ever as good as the golden squad of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. After an implausible continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, netting 25 goals and conceding none.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side perhaps do not possess the star quality of past Dutch eras, but they qualified without losing and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, consistently appears a more effective player with his country's side than at club level. They open against the Japanese team, who will participate in their 8th consecutive World Cup, and were by far the most impressive of the Asian nations in qualifying, losing one of their 16 games across the two groups, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia secured of a third consecutive World Cup appearance by topping a straightforward qualification section, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as dour as certain past Tunisian sides; they had a remarkable 14 separate goalscorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the UEFA playoff (against Ukraine in the semi, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will create a rematch of the group stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Group G

Belgium and Egypt are moving on from the legacy of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualifying, finding the net eight times but conceding five in two wins over Wales, finding goals easily at times, but also laboring to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most decorated side in African football history, but having failed to qualify during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite fulfilled their potential on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defensive unit that allowed just twice in 10 games that meant they qualified unbeaten.

A guaranteed place for Oceania effectively equated to a spot at the finals for the All Whites, who sailed 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. Iran, who were defeated once in a difficult third phase qualification group, are on a travel ban, possibly