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Group A

This initial match at the iconic Azteca Stadium will mirror the first game from 2010, when South Africa drew 1-1 with El Tri. The Mexican team's elimination stage history at the worldwide tournament includes just one win, achieved against Bulgaria when they previously hosted in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that squad and will be aiming for a third last-eight appearance as hosts. The South African side, led by veteran Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first World Cup since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a victory over Lesotho given against them for fielding an ineligible player.

It will mark Korea Republic's eleventh consecutive World Cup appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and finished third in the Best Player award when South Korea made the last four in 2002. He is now their manager and guided them unbeaten through a far from straightforward qualification group. The fourth team in Group A will be the winner of a European playoff involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

Canada have qualified for the World Cup on two occasions and, although Qatar 2022 brought their first finals goal, it did not bring their first-ever finals point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of arguably the most talented squad in their nation's history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which kind the draw appears depends largely on whether Italy progress through the UEFA play-off (the remaining 3 teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have got through the group stage in four of the last five tournaments and were last-eight participants at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket 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. The Qatari team, having finished fourth in their third-round qualifying group, were given a major boost by being chosen as a tournament host for the fourth phase and clinched progress with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected exclusively from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland's first World Cup in 28 years bears a lot like their last appearance, when they were defeated to Brazil and Morocco; Haiti occupy the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to make it to the elimination phase for the very first time after 8 prior group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s sole previous World Cup, in 1974, was notable 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 assaulted by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have restricted away support due to a travel ban involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third manager in a qualifying process that featured a streak of three successive losses, but there is minimal risk in South American qualification these days. He has overseen a clear upturn in form. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the strongest of the north African sides, 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 state, losing 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 message across 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 sixth World Cup. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has led to both group-stage exits and a quarter-final place. Their familiar defensive mindset has not changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most fluent Australian side and their squad lacks obvious stars, but despite an shaky beginning to the third round of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side made it by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their final two matches. The pool's fourth team will emerge from the victor of Europe’s playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

After back-to-back group phase eliminations, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more attacking philosophy has brought a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like posing a huge test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualifying, finishing second 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.

Côte d’Ivoire live in a state of constant pessimism, where nothing is ever as successful as the golden squad of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved transformative. Following an improbable continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualifying, scoring 25 goals and conceding reply.

The smallest country ever to qualify, the Curaçao team, were the fourth team picked, however, making the group look a lot far less intimidating than it could have appeared.

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe lack the galacticos of past Dutch generations, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualification, consistently looks a more reliable performer with his country's side than at domestic level. They begin against Japan, who will play in their 8th consecutive World Cup, and were by some way the most dominant of the Asian sides in qualifying, suffering one of their 16 games across the two phases, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia secured of a third consecutive finals berth by topping a manageable qualifying group, picking up 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as defensive as certain previous Tunisian teams; they had a remarkable 14 different goalscorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the European 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.

Group 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 football history, but having not managed to reach the finals during their peak period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully fulfilled their potential on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defence that allowed just twice in 10 games that meant they qualified unbeaten.

A reserved place for Oceania essentially meant a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who cruised through qualifying, 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 once in a tricky third-round qualifying section, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly