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Group A

The first fixture at the historic Azteca venue will mirror the opener from 2010, when South Africa drew 1-1 with Mexico. The Mexican team's knockout phase record at the worldwide tournament features just a single victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. Their manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be aiming for a third quarter-final berth as tournament hosts. The South African side, led by veteran Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, qualified for their initial finals since they hosted, finishing above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a victory over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an suspended footballer.

It will mark Korea Republic's 11th successive World Cup qualification. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished third 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 qualification section. The fourth team in Group A will be the victor of a UEFA qualifying play-off involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

Canada have qualified for the global finals twice and, while Qatar 2022 brought their first goal, it did not bring their first finals point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of arguably the best squad in their history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How kind the draw looks hinges mostly on whether the Italian national team make it through the UEFA playoff (the other 3 teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland 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 booked their ticket unbeaten from probably the most straightforward of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast individuals aiming to feature at their fourth finals. Qatar, having finished fourth in their third-round qualification section, were handed a significant boost by being chosen as a tournament host for the fourth round and clinched qualification with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is drawn exclusively from the Qatari league.

Group C

Scotland's first finals in 28 years bears a lot like their last outing, when they lost to Brazil and the Atlas Lions; Haiti occupy the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the elimination phase for the very first time after eight prior group phase exits. Haiti’s only previous World Cup, in 1974, was remembered less for their three losses than for the ordeal that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a doping test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have limited traveling support due to travel restrictions from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third manager in a qualifying process that featured a run of three successive defeats, but there is little jeopardy in South American qualification these days. He has overseen a clear improvement. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the best of the north African nations, capable both of overwhelming opponents and playing on the counter-attack, securing qualification with a 100% record.

Group D

At the start of last year, the United States seemed in a dismal condition, suffering defeats to Panama and Canada in the Concacaf Nations League and to Turkey and Switzerland in friendlies. But over the past year, Mauricio Pochettino has apparently begun to get his message across and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will start against Paraguay, who are playing in their sixth World Cup. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has resulted to both group-stage exits and a last-eight place. Their familiar cautious approach hasn't changed: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most free-flowing Australia team and their squad is without clear stars, 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 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 successive group phase eliminations, Germany are no longer the feared force of old. The transition to a more progressive philosophy has brought a fragility and the draw initially looked like presenting a massive test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the surprise package of qualification, finishing second behind Argentina in South America. Although they netted only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline including Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a paltry five.

Ivory Coast exist in a state of constant 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. After an improbable continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, scoring 25 goals without none.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side maybe do not possess the star quality of past Dutch generations, but they secured qualification without losing and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualification, always looks a more reliable player with his country's side than at club level. They open against Japan, who will play in their eighth successive finals, and were by some way the most dominant of the Asian sides in qualification, losing one of their 16 games across the two groups, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia secured of a third consecutive World Cup appearance by dominating a straightforward qualifying group, picking up 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are perhaps not as defensive as some previous Tunisian teams; they had a staggering 14 different goalscorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the UEFA 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 iconic Cruyff Turn.

Group G

The Belgian Red Devils and Egypt are moving on from the legacy of golden 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 decorated side in African history, but having failed to reach the finals during their peak period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite done themselves justice 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 ensured they qualified unbeaten.

A reserved place for Oceania essentially meant a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who sailed 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. Team Melli, who lost only once in a difficult third-round qualifying group, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially