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Group A

This initial match at the famous Azteca Stadium will mirror the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with El Tri. The Mexican team's knockout phase history at the worldwide tournament features just a single victory, secured against Bulgaria when they last were hosts in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be aiming for a third quarter-final berth as hosts. The South African side, led by veteran Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial finals since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite having a win over Lesotho given against them for fielding an ineligible player.

This will represent Korea Republic's eleventh successive finals appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came in third place in the Best Player award when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. Hong is now their coach and guided them without a loss through a anything but straightforward qualification group. The final side in Group A will be the winner of a UEFA playoff involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

Canada have made it for the World Cup on two occasions and, while Qatar 2022 yielded their maiden finals goal, it did not deliver their first finals point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of probably the best group of players in their history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which favorable the group looks hinges largely on whether Italy progress through the UEFA play-off (the remaining three teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have got through 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 probably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players aiming to play at their fourth finals. The Qatari team, having ended up in fourth in their third-round qualifying section, were handed a major advantage by being selected as a tournament host for the fourth phase and secured qualification with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected entirely from the Qatari league.

Pool C

Scotland's first World Cup in 28 years bears a lot like their last outing, when they lost to the Seleção and Morocco; Haiti take the place of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the knockout stage for the first time after eight previous group phase exits. Haiti’s sole previous finals, in 1974, was notable less for their three defeats 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 traveling support due to a travel ban from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third coach in a qualification process that included a streak of three successive losses, but there is minimal risk in South American qualifying these days. He has overseen a clear upturn in form. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the best of the north African sides, capable both of dominating opponents and playing on the counter-attack, qualifying with a 100% win record.

Pool D

At the start of last year, the USA seemed in a poor condition, suffering defeats to Panama and Canada in the Concacaf Nations League and to Turkey and Switzerland in friendlies. But over the last year, Mauricio Pochettino has apparently begun to get his ideas understood and in November the USA beat Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will start against Paraguay, who are playing in their 6th World Cup. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a record that has resulted to both group phase eliminations and a quarter-final appearance. Their familiar defensive mindset has not changed: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most fluent Australia side and their roster lacks obvious superstars, but in spite of an shaky start to the third round of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side made it by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their last two fixtures. The pool's final team will emerge from the winner of Europe’s playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

After back-to-back group phase exits, Die Mannschaft are no longer the feared force of old. The shift to a more attacking philosophy has introduced a fragility and the draw initially looked like presenting a massive challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the revelations of qualification, finishing second behind Argentina in South America. Although they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline featuring Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a paltry five.

Côte d’Ivoire live in a state of permanent declinism, where nothing is ever quite good 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. After an implausible continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualifying, scoring 25 goals and conceding none.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side perhaps do not possess the galacticos of previous Dutch eras, but they secured qualification without losing and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, always appears a more reliable player with his country's side than at domestic level. They begin against the Japanese team, who will play in their 8th successive World Cup, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian nations in qualifying, losing one of their 16 games across the two groups, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia secured of a third straight finals berth by topping a straightforward qualification group, picking up 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as defensive as some previous Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 separate goalscorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the European playoff (against Ukraine in the semi-final, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will set up a repeat of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

Belgium and Egypt are emerging from the shadow of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, scoring the net eight times but letting in 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 qualify during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully done themselves justice on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defensive unit that allowed only twice in 10 games that meant they qualified undefeated.

A guaranteed place for Oceania essentially 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 booked their place in North America next summer. Team Melli, who lost only once in a difficult third phase qualifying group, are on a travel ban, possibly