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Group A

This initial match at the famous Azteca venue will mirror the first game from 2010, when South Africa drew 1-1 with Mexico. Mexico's knockout stage history at the global tournament includes just a single win, achieved against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that team and will be targeting a third last-eight appearance as tournament hosts. The South African side, coached by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial World Cup since hosting, ending above Nigeria and Benin despite having a victory over Lesotho given against them for fielding an suspended player.

This will mark South Korea's 11th successive finals appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and came in third place in the Best Player voting when South Korea made the semi-final in 2002. He is now their coach and led them unbeaten through a anything but easy qualifying group. The final side in Group A will be the victor of a European qualifying play-off involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

The Canadian team have made it for the global finals twice and, although Qatar 2022 brought their maiden goal, it did not deliver their first finals point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of probably the best squad in their nation's history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which favorable the group appears hinges largely 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).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have got through the initial phase in four of the past five tournaments and were last-eight participants at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified unbeaten from arguably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have individuals aiming to feature at their fourth World Cups. Qatar, having finished in fourth in their third-round qualification section, were handed a significant advantage by being selected as a host for the fourth round and secured qualification with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is selected entirely from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland first World Cup in 28 years bears a lot like their previous outing, when they were defeated to the Seleção and Morocco; Haiti take the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to make it to the knockout stage for the very first time after 8 prior group-stage exits. Haiti’s only previous finals, 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 doping 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 took over as Brazil’s third coach in a qualifying campaign that included a streak of three consecutive defeats, but there is little jeopardy in South American qualifying these days. He has presided over a noticeable improvement. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the best of the north African sides, capable both of dominating opponents and playing on the counter, securing qualification with a 100% record.

Pool D

At the start of last year, the United States 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 last year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his ideas across and in November the USA beat Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will start against the Paraguayan side, who are playing in their 6th World Cup. They have secured one game at each of the prior five, a statistic that has resulted to both group phase eliminations and a last-eight appearance. Their trademark cautious mindset has not altered: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most free-flowing Australian side and their squad lacks clear superstars, but in spite of an shaky start to the third round of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their final two fixtures. The group’s fourth team will emerge from the victor of the European playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

After back-to-back group phase exits, Germany are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more attacking philosophy has introduced a fragility and the draw initially looked like posing a massive test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualifying, ending up in second place behind Argentina in South America. While 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, let in a mere five.

Ivory Coast exist in a state of constant pessimism, where nothing is ever quite successful as the glorious squad of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Emerse Faé has proved transformative. After an implausible continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualifying, netting 25 goals without reply.

The tiniest country ever to reach the finals, Curaçao, were the fourth team drawn, though, making the group look a lot less intimidating than it could have been.

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe lack the star quality of past Dutch eras, but they qualified without losing and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualification, consistently appears a more reliable performer with his national side than at domestic level. They begin against Japan, who will participate in their eighth consecutive World Cup, and were by far the most dominant of the Asian sides in qualification, losing one of their 16 games over the two groups, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia made sure of a third consecutive World Cup berth by topping a manageable qualification group, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as defensive as some previous Tunisian sides; they had a remarkable 14 different goalscorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the European play-off (against Ukraine in the semi, 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 performed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

The Belgian Red Devils and the Pharaohs are moving on from the legacy of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualifying, scoring the net eight times but letting in five in two wins over Wales, scoring easily 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 reach the finals during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully fulfilled their potential on the world stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them attacking threat, but it was a defensive unit that allowed just twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified unbeaten.

A reserved 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-ranked side to have secured their place in North America next summer. Iran, who were defeated only once in a tricky third phase qualification group, are on a travel ban, possibly