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Group A

This opening match at the historic Azteca Stadium will echo the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana drew 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's elimination stage history at the worldwide tournament includes just one win, secured against Bulgaria when they last were hosts in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that squad and will be aiming for a third last-eight appearance as tournament hosts. South Africa, coached by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, qualified for their first finals since they hosted, finishing above Nigeria and Benin even after having a victory over Lesotho given against them for using an suspended footballer.

It will mark South Korea's 11th consecutive World Cup qualification. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished third in the Golden Ball voting when South Korea made the semi-final in 2002. He is now their manager and guided them without a loss through a anything but easy qualifying section. The final team in Group A will be the winner of a European qualifying play-off featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

The Canadian team have qualified for the global finals on two occasions and, while Qatar 2022 brought their first goal, it did not bring their first point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of probably the best group of players in their nation's history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How kind the draw looks depends mostly on whether Italy progress through the European play-off (the remaining three contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have got through the group stage in four of the past five tournaments and were last-eight participants at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket unbeaten from arguably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players aiming to feature at their fourth finals. Qatar, having finished fourth in their third phase qualifying section, were given a major advantage by being chosen as a host for the final round and secured qualification with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is drawn entirely from the Qatari 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 place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the elimination stage for the first time after eight prior group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s only previous World Cup, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats than for the ordeal that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a doping test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have limited away support due to travel restrictions from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third manager in a qualifying campaign that included a run of three consecutive 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 look the best of the north African sides, capable both of dominating rivals and playing on the counter, qualifying with a 100% win record.

Group 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 friendly matches. But over the last year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his message understood and in November the USA beat Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will start against Paraguay, who are playing in their 6th World Cup. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a record that has resulted to both group-stage eliminations and a last-eight appearance. Their familiar cautious mindset hasn't altered: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most fluent Australian side and their roster is without clear superstars, but despite an iffy beginning to the third round of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their final two fixtures. The pool's final team will come from the victor of the European playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

After back-to-back group-stage eliminations, Die Mannschaft are no longer the feared force of old. The transition to a more attacking style has introduced a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like posing 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 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 exist in a state of permanent declinism, where nothing is ever quite successful as the glorious 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 improbable continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualifying, scoring 25 goals and conceding none.

The smallest country ever to qualify, the Curaçao team, were the final team drawn, though, making the group look a lot far less daunting than it might have been.

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side perhaps do not possess the star quality of previous Dutch generations, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, consistently looks a more reliable performer with his country's side than at club level. They begin against the Japanese team, who will play in their eighth consecutive finals, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian nations in qualification, losing one of their 16 games over the two phases, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia secured of a third consecutive finals appearance by topping a straightforward qualifying group, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are perhaps not as dour as some previous Tunisian teams; they had a staggering 14 separate scorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the European playoff (against Ukraine in the semi, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will create a rematch of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first executed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Group G

Belgium and the Pharaohs are emerging from the legacy of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualification, finding the net eight times but letting in 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 successful side in African history, but having not managed to qualify during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully fulfilled their potential on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them attacking threat, but it was a defence that conceded 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 cruised 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. Team Melli, who were defeated only once in a difficult third-round qualifying group, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially