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Pool A

The first game at the famous Azteca Stadium will echo the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana drew 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's elimination phase history at the worldwide tournament features just a single victory, secured against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be aiming for a third last-eight berth as hosts. South Africa, led by veteran Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first finals since they hosted, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite having a win over Lesotho given against them for fielding an suspended footballer.

This will represent Korea Republic's 11th consecutive World Cup qualification. Icon 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. Hong is now their coach and led them without a loss through a far from easy qualification group. The final team in Group A will be the winner of a UEFA playoff featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

Canada have qualified for the World Cup twice and, while Qatar 2022 brought their first goal, it did not bring their first-ever point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of probably the most talented squad in their nation's history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How kind the group appears depends largely on whether the Italian national team make it through the UEFA playoff (the remaining 3 teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have navigated the group stage in four of the last five tournaments and were last-eight participants at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified without defeat from arguably the most straightforward of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players hoping to feature at their fourth finals. The Qatari team, having finished in fourth in their third-round qualification group, were handed a significant advantage by being selected as a tournament host for the fourth round and secured progress with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is selected exclusively from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland's return to the finals in 28 years looks a lot like their previous outing, when they lost to Brazil and the Atlas Lions; the Haitian team occupy the spot of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the knockout stage for the first time after eight previous group phase eliminations. Haiti’s only prior finals, in 1974, was notable less for their three losses 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 from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third manager in a qualification process that included a run of three consecutive losses, but there is minimal risk in South American qualification these days. He has overseen a noticeable improvement. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the strongest of the north African nations, capable both of dominating opponents and playing on the counter-attack, qualifying with a 100% record.

Pool D

At the start of last year, the USA seemed in a poor condition, losing to Panama and Canada in the Concacaf Nations League and to Turkey and Switzerland in friendly matches. But over the last year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his message understood and in November the USA beat Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will begin against the Paraguayan side, who are competing in their sixth finals. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a record that has led to both group phase exits and a quarter-final appearance. Their familiar cautious mindset hasn't changed: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australian team and their roster is without obvious superstars, but in spite of an shaky beginning to the third phase of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their final two matches. The pool's final team will emerge from the winner of Europe’s Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

Following successive group phase exits, Germany are no longer the feared force of old. The transition to a more progressive style has introduced a fragility and the group initially looked like presenting a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualification, ending up second 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, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, let in a paltry five.

Ivory Coast exist in a state of permanent declinism, where nothing is ever quite good as the glorious generation of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved transformative. After an improbable continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless 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 less intimidating than it might 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 scored eight goals in qualifying, always looks a more effective performer with his country's side than at club level. They begin against Japan, who will participate in their eighth 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.

The Tunisian side made sure of a third consecutive World Cup appearance by topping a manageable qualification group, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as dour as some previous Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 separate scorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the UEFA play-off (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 famous Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

The Belgian Red Devils and Egypt are emerging from the shadow of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, finding the net eight times but conceding five in two wins over Wales, finding goals easily 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 not managed to reach the finals during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite done themselves justice on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defensive unit that conceded just twice in 10 games that meant they qualified undefeated.

A guaranteed place for Oceania essentially meant a spot at the finals for the All Whites, 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 booked their place in North America next summer. Iran, who were defeated only once in a tricky third-round qualification section, are on a travel ban, possibly