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Group A

The opening match at the famous Azteca Stadium will mirror the first game from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's elimination stage history at the global tournament includes just one win, achieved against Bulgaria when they previously were hosts in 1986. Their manager, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that team and will be aiming for a third-ever quarter-final appearance as tournament hosts. The South African side, coached by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial finals since they hosted, ending above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a victory over Lesotho awarded against them for using an ineligible footballer.

This will represent Korea Republic's 11th straight finals appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished in third place in the Best Player award when South Korea made the last four in 2002. Hong is now their manager and led them unbeaten through a anything but easy qualifying section. The fourth side in Group A will be the victor of a European playoff featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

The Canadian team have qualified for the global finals twice and, while Qatar 2022 brought their first finals goal, it did not bring their first-ever finals point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of arguably 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 appears hinges mostly on whether Italy make it 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, the Swiss have navigated the initial phase in four of the last five World Cups and were quarter-finalists at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket unbeaten from arguably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players hoping to play at their fourth finals. The Qatari team, having ended up fourth in their third phase qualifying section, were given a significant advantage by being chosen as a host for the final phase and secured qualification with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is selected exclusively from the Qatari league.

Pool C

Scotland return to the finals in 28 years bears a lot like their previous appearance, when they were defeated to Brazil and Morocco; the Haitian team take the spot of Norway. Their primary objective will be to make it to the knockout stage for the first time after 8 prior group phase exits. Haiti’s only prior finals, in 1974, was notable less for their three defeats than for the fate that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a drugs test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have limited away support due to travel restrictions from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third coach in a qualification campaign that included a streak of three successive defeats, but there is little risk in South American qualifying these days. He has presided over a clear upturn in form. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the best of the north African sides, capable both of dominating rivals and playing on the counter, securing qualification with a perfect record.

Group D

Early last year, the United States 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 past year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his ideas across and in November the USA beat Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will start against Paraguay, who are playing in their sixth finals. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has led to both group phase exits and a quarter-final appearance. Their familiar cautious mindset has not changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australia side and their roster lacks obvious superstars, but in spite of an iffy 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 group’s fourth team will emerge from the winner of the European Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

Following back-to-back group phase eliminations, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The shift to a more attacking style has introduced a fragility and the draw initially looked like posing a massive challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualifying, finishing second behind Argentina in South America. Although they scored 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 live in a state of permanent declinism, where nothing is ever as successful as the golden generation of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. Following an improbable continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, scoring 25 goals and conceding none.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe lack the galacticos of past Dutch eras, but they qualified without losing and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, always looks a more reliable player with his national side than at domestic level. They open against the Japanese team, who will participate in their eighth successive World Cup, and were by far the most impressive of the Asian sides in qualifying, losing one of their 16 games over the two groups, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side made sure of a third consecutive World Cup appearance by dominating a straightforward qualification group, picking up 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are maybe not as dour as some previous Tunisian teams; they had a remarkable 14 separate goalscorers in qualification. 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 set up a rematch of the group 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 legacy of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, finding 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 failed to qualify during their peak period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully done themselves justice on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them attacking threat, but it was a defensive unit that allowed only twice in 10 games that ensured 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 secured their place in North America next summer. Iran, who were defeated once in a difficult third phase qualification section, are on a travel ban, possibly