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Group A

This initial fixture at the historic Azteca Stadium will mirror the opener from 2010, when Bafana Bafana drew 1-1 with El Tri. The Mexican team's elimination phase history at the worldwide tournament includes just one victory, secured against Bulgaria when they previously were hosts in 1986. Their manager, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that squad and will be targeting a third quarter-final berth as hosts. South Africa, coached by veteran Belgian manager Hugo Broos, qualified for their initial World Cup since hosting, ending above Nigeria and Benin despite having a win over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an ineligible player.

It will represent Korea Republic's eleventh straight finals qualification. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came in third place in the Best Player voting when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. He is now their coach and guided them without a loss through a far from straightforward qualifying group. The final team in Group A will be the victor 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 twice and, although Qatar 2022 brought their first goal, it did not deliver their first-ever finals point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of arguably the most talented squad in their history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How kind the group looks hinges largely on whether Italy progress through the European playoff (the other 3 contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have navigated the group stage in four of the last five World Cups and were quarter-finalists at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified unbeaten from arguably the most straightforward of the UEFA groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players hoping to play at their fourth finals. The Qatari team, having ended up in fourth in their third-round qualification group, were given a significant advantage by being chosen as a host for the final phase and clinched qualification with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is drawn exclusively from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland's return to the finals in 28 years bears a lot like their last appearance, when they were defeated to Brazil and Morocco; the Haitian team take the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the elimination stage for the very first time after eight prior group phase exits. Haiti’s sole prior World Cup, in 1974, was notable less for their three defeats than for the fate that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a doping test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have restricted away support due to a travel ban involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third coach in a qualifying process that included a streak of three consecutive losses, but there is minimal jeopardy in South American qualification these days. He has presided over a clear improvement. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the best of the north African nations, able both of overwhelming opponents and playing on the counter, qualifying with a 100% win 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 friendlies. But over the last year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his message across and in November the USA beat Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will start against Paraguay, who are competing in their sixth World Cup. They have won one game at each of the prior five, a record that has led to both group-stage eliminations and a last-eight appearance. Their familiar defensive approach hasn't changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australia team and their squad lacks clear superstars, but in spite of an shaky start to the third round of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their last two matches. The pool's final team will come from the victor of Europe’s Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

Following back-to-back group phase eliminations, Germany are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more progressive philosophy has introduced a vulnerability and the group initially looked like presenting a huge test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualifying, ending up in second place behind Argentina in South America. While they netted only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline featuring Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, protected by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, let in a paltry five.

Ivory Coast exist in a state of constant pessimism, where nothing is ever as successful as the glorious 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 improbable continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualifying, scoring 25 goals without reply.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe lack the star quality of past Dutch generations, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, always looks a more effective performer with his national side than at club level. They open against Japan, who will participate in their eighth consecutive World Cup, and were by some way the most dominant of the Asian nations in qualification, suffering one of their 16 games across the two groups, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia secured of a third straight World Cup berth by topping a manageable qualification group, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as dour as some previous Tunisian sides; they had a remarkable 14 separate scorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the European play-off (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 famous Cruyff Turn.

Group G

The Belgian Red Devils and the Pharaohs are moving on from the shadow of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualification, finding the net eight times but conceding five in two wins over Wales, scoring freely at times, but also struggling 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 quite fulfilled their potential on the world stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defence that allowed only twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified unbeaten.

A reserved place for Oceania effectively meant a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who sailed through qualification, 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. Iran, who lost only once in a difficult third-round qualification group, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly