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Group A

This opening match at the famous Azteca venue will echo the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana drew 1-1 with Mexico. The Mexican team's elimination phase record at the global tournament includes just one win, achieved against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be targeting a third last-eight appearance as tournament hosts. The South African side, coached by veteran Belgian manager Hugo Broos, qualified for their first World Cup since hosting, ending above Nigeria and Benin even after having a victory over Lesotho given against them for fielding an ineligible footballer.

This will represent Korea Republic's eleventh consecutive World Cup appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished in third place in the Best Player award when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. He is now their coach and led them without a loss through a far from straightforward qualification section. The fourth team in Group A will be the victor of a European playoff 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, while Qatar 2022 yielded their first goal, it did not deliver their first-ever point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of arguably 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 draw looks depends mostly on whether the Italian national team progress through the UEFA play-off (the remaining 3 contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have got through the group stage in four of the past five World Cups and were quarter-finalists at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified unbeaten from probably the easiest of the UEFA groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast individuals hoping to feature at their fourth World Cups. Qatar, having finished in fourth in their third-round qualification group, were given a significant 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 drawn exclusively from the Qatari league.

Group C

Scotland's first World Cup in 28 years looks a lot like their previous appearance, when they lost to the Seleção and the Atlas Lions; Haiti occupy the spot of Norway. Their primary objective will be to make it to the knockout phase for the very first time after eight previous group phase eliminations. Haiti’s sole prior finals, in 1974, was notable less for their three defeats than for the ordeal that happened to 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 restricted traveling support due to travel restrictions from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third manager in a qualification campaign that featured a streak of three consecutive losses, but there is little risk in South American qualifying these days. He has presided over a noticeable improvement. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the strongest of the north African nations, capable both of overwhelming opponents and playing on the counter, qualifying with a 100% record.

Pool D

Early 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 friendly matches. 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 friendlies. They will begin against the Paraguayan side, who are competing in their sixth World Cup. They have secured one game at each of the prior five, a statistic that has led to both group phase eliminations and a last-eight place. Their trademark cautious mindset hasn't altered: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most fluent Australian team and their roster lacks clear stars, but in spite of an shaky beginning to the third phase of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side made it by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense 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-stage eliminations, Germany are no longer the feared force of old. The shift to a more attacking philosophy has brought a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like presenting a massive test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the revelations of qualifying, finishing second behind Argentina in South America. While they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a defence including Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a paltry five.

Ivory Coast live in a state of permanent declinism, where nothing is ever quite successful as the golden generation of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. After an improbable continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, netting 25 goals without none.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side maybe do not possess the star quality of previous Dutch eras, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualification, always looks a more effective performer with his national side than at club level. They begin against Japan, who will play in their 8th successive World Cup, and were by far the most impressive of the Asian sides in qualification, suffering one of their 16 games across the two groups, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side secured of a third straight finals berth by dominating a straightforward qualifying section, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as defensive as some past Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 different goalscorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the UEFA play-off (against Ukraine in the semi, 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 executed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Group G

Belgium and Egypt are moving on from the legacy of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, finding 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 successful side in African football history, but having failed to qualify during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite done themselves justice on the world stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defence that conceded only twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified undefeated.

A guaranteed place for Oceania essentially meant a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who sailed through qualifying, winning five games out of five, netting 29 goals, nine of them by Chris Wood, but they are the lowest FIFA-ranked side to have booked their place in North America next summer. Iran, who were defeated only once in a tricky third-round qualification group, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly