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Group A

This initial match at the iconic Azteca venue will replay the opener from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with Mexico. The Mexican team's elimination stage record at the global showpiece includes just one victory, secured against Bulgaria when they previously were hosts in 1986. Their coach, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be targeting a third quarter-final appearance as tournament hosts. The South African side, coached by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first World Cup since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a victory over Lesotho given against them for using an ineligible footballer.

It will represent Korea Republic's eleventh successive World Cup appearance. Legend Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and came in third place in the Best Player voting when South Korea made the last four in 2002. He is now their manager and led them without a loss through a anything but easy qualification group. The final side 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

Canada have qualified for the World Cup on two occasions and, while Qatar 2022 yielded their first finals goal, it did not deliver their first point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of arguably the best squad in their history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which favorable the group appears hinges mostly on whether the Italian national team make it through the European play-off (the remaining 3 contenders 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 tournaments and were quarter-finalists at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified without defeat from arguably the most straightforward of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have individuals hoping to play at their fourth finals. The Qatari team, having finished in fourth in their third phase qualification group, were given a major boost by being selected as a tournament host for the final round and clinched qualification with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is selected entirely from the Qatari league.

Group C

Scotland return to the finals in 28 years bears a lot like their previous outing, when they were defeated to Brazil and Morocco; Haiti take the spot of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the knockout phase for the first time after eight previous group phase eliminations. Haiti’s only prior World Cup, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats than for the ordeal 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 limited traveling support due to a travel ban from the USA.

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

Pool D

Early last year, the USA seemed in a poor state, losing to Panama and Canada in the Concacaf Nations League and to Turkey and Switzerland in friendlies. But over the last year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his message across and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will begin against the Paraguayan side, who are playing in their sixth finals. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a record that has resulted to both group phase eliminations and a last-eight place. Their trademark defensive mindset has not changed: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australia team and their roster lacks obvious superstars, but despite an iffy beginning 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 final two fixtures. The group’s fourth team will emerge from the victor of Europe’s playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following successive group phase exits, Germany 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 qualification, finishing second behind Argentina in South America. Although they netted only 14 goals in 18 games, a defence including Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, protected by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a mere five.

Côte d’Ivoire live in a state of permanent pessimism, where nothing is ever quite successful as the glorious squad 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 clinical in qualification, netting 25 goals without none.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side perhaps lack the star quality of past Dutch generations, but they qualified without losing and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, always appears a more effective player with his country's side than at club level. They open against Japan, who will play in their eighth successive World Cup, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian sides in qualification, suffering one of their 16 games across the two phases, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia made sure of a third straight World Cup berth by dominating a straightforward qualifying group, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are maybe not as defensive as certain previous Tunisian teams; they had a remarkable 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.

Pool G

Belgium and Egypt are moving on from the shadow of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualification, scoring the net eight times but conceding five in two wins over Wales, scoring 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 failed 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 attacking threat, but it was a defensive unit that conceded only twice in 10 games that meant they qualified undefeated.

A reserved place for Oceania essentially meant 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 lost only once in a difficult third-round qualification group, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly