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Pool A

This initial fixture at the iconic Azteca venue will mirror the opener from 2010, when South Africa drew 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's elimination phase history at the worldwide tournament includes just one win, secured against Bulgaria when they previously were hosts in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that team and will be aiming for a third last-eight berth as hosts. The South African side, led by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, qualified for their initial World Cup since they hosted, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite having a win over Lesotho given against them for fielding an ineligible footballer.

It will represent South Korea's 11th successive World Cup appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished in third place in the Best Player award when South Korea reached the semi-final in 2002. Hong is now their coach and led them without a loss through a far from straightforward qualification group. The fourth team in Group A will be the victor of a European qualifying play-off featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

Canada have qualified for the World Cup twice and, while Qatar 2022 brought their first goal, it did not bring their first-ever point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of arguably the most talented squad in their history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which favorable the group looks depends largely on whether Italy progress through the UEFA play-off (the other 3 teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have navigated the initial phase in four of the past five World Cups and were quarter-finalists at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket unbeaten from probably the most straightforward of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast individuals hoping to feature at their fourth World Cups. The Qatari team, having finished in fourth in their third phase qualifying section, were given a major boost by being chosen as a tournament host for the fourth round and secured qualification with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected entirely from the domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland's return to the finals in 28 years bears a lot like their previous appearance, when they were defeated to the Seleção and Morocco; Haiti take the spot of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the elimination stage for the first time after eight prior group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s only previous finals, 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 assaulted by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have restricted traveling support due to travel restrictions from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third manager in a qualification process that featured a run of three consecutive losses, but there is minimal jeopardy in South American qualifying these days. He has presided over a noticeable upturn in form. 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, securing qualification with a perfect record.

Pool D

At the start of last year, the USA seemed in a poor condition, suffering defeats 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 message understood and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will start against the Paraguayan side, who are competing in their 6th World Cup. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has led to both group-stage exits and a last-eight appearance. Their familiar defensive mindset has not altered: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most fluent Australian team and their roster lacks obvious stars, but despite an shaky start to the third round of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their final two matches. The group’s fourth team will come from the winner of the European playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following successive group phase eliminations, Germany are no longer the feared force of old. The transition to a more attacking philosophy has introduced a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like presenting a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the surprise package of qualification, ending up in second place behind Argentina in South America. While 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, conceded a paltry five.

Ivory Coast exist in a state of permanent declinism, where nothing is ever as successful as the glorious generation of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. After an implausible continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, netting 25 goals without none.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side perhaps lack the galacticos of past Dutch eras, but they qualified without losing and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualification, always appears a more reliable player with his national side than at domestic level. They begin against Japan, who will play in their 8th successive finals, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian sides in qualification, losing one of their 16 games across the two phases, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia made sure of a third straight World Cup appearance by topping a straightforward qualifying group, picking up 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are perhaps not as defensive as certain past Tunisian sides; they had a remarkable 14 separate goalscorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the European play-off (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 performed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

The Belgian Red Devils and Egypt are emerging from the shadow of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, scoring the net eight times but conceding five in two wins over Wales, finding goals freely at times, but also laboring 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 peak period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite fulfilled their potential on the world 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 reserved place for Oceania effectively 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 FIFA-ranked side to have secured their place in North America next summer. Team Melli, who lost only once in a tricky third-round qualifying group, are on a travel ban, potentially