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Pool A

The initial match at the famous Azteca venue will echo the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with El Tri. The Mexican team's elimination stage record at the global tournament includes just a single victory, secured against Bulgaria when they previously were hosts in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that squad and will be aiming for a third-ever last-eight berth as hosts. The South African side, led by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, qualified for their initial finals since they hosted, ending above Nigeria and Benin despite having a victory over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an suspended player.

It will represent South Korea's eleventh consecutive finals qualification. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished third in the Golden Ball award when South Korea reached the semi-final in 2002. He is now their manager and led them without a loss through a anything but straightforward qualifying group. The final side in Group A will be the winner of a UEFA playoff featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

Canada have made it for the World Cup on two occasions and, while Qatar 2022 brought their first finals goal, it did not bring their first-ever finals point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of probably the best group of players in their nation's history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which kind the group looks depends mostly on whether the Italian national team progress through the UEFA playoff (the other three contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have got through the initial phase in four of the past five World Cups and were quarter-finalists at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket without defeat from arguably the most straightforward of the UEFA groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have individuals aiming to feature at their fourth World Cups. The Qatari team, having finished in fourth in their third-round qualifying group, were given a major boost by being chosen as a host for the final round and secured progress with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected exclusively from the domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland return to the finals in 28 years looks a lot like their previous appearance, when they were defeated to Brazil and Morocco; Haiti take the place of Norway. Their aim will be to make it to the elimination phase for the first time after eight prior group phase eliminations. Haiti’s only previous finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats than for the fate that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a doping test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have limited traveling support due to travel restrictions involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third manager in a qualification process that included a streak of three successive defeats, but there is minimal jeopardy in South American qualification these days. He has presided over a noticeable upturn in form. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the strongest of the north African sides, capable both of dominating rivals and playing on the counter-attack, securing qualification with a 100% win record.

Group D

At the start of last year, the United States seemed in a poor state, suffering defeats 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 ideas across and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will begin against Paraguay, who are competing in their 6th finals. They have won one game at each of the prior five, a statistic that has led to both group phase exits and a last-eight place. Their trademark cautious approach hasn't altered: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australia team and their squad lacks obvious stars, but in spite of an iffy start to the third phase of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side made it by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their final two matches. The group’s fourth team will emerge from the victor of the European 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 shift to a more progressive style has brought a fragility and the group initially looked like presenting a huge test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualifying, finishing in second place behind Argentina in South America. Although they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline including Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a paltry five.

Côte d’Ivoire live in a state of permanent pessimism, where nothing is ever quite successful as the golden 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 implausible continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, scoring 25 goals and conceding none.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe do not possess the galacticos of previous Dutch generations, but they qualified without losing and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualification, consistently appears a more reliable player with his national side than at club level. They open against Japan, who will participate in their eighth consecutive World Cup, and were by far the most impressive of the Asian sides in qualifying, suffering one of their 16 games across the two phases, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side made sure of a third consecutive finals appearance by dominating a manageable qualification section, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are maybe not as dour as some previous Tunisian teams; they had a remarkable 14 different scorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the UEFA playoff (against Ukraine in the semi-final, 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 executed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

The Belgian Red Devils and Egypt are emerging from the legacy of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualifying, scoring 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 decorated side in African history, but having not managed to reach the finals 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 attacking threat, but it was a defensive unit that conceded just twice in 10 games that meant they qualified undefeated.

A guaranteed place for Oceania effectively equated to a spot at the finals for the All Whites, who cruised through qualification, winning five games out of five, netting 29 goals, nine of them by Chris Wood, but they are the lowest-ranked side to have booked their place in North America next summer. Iran, who lost only once in a tricky third phase qualifying group, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially