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Group A

This first game at the famous Azteca Stadium will mirror the opener from 2010, when South Africa drew 1-1 with Mexico. The Mexican team's elimination phase history at the global tournament features just a single victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they last were hosts in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that squad and will be targeting a third-ever quarter-final appearance as tournament hosts. The South African side, led by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, qualified for their first finals since they hosted, finishing above Nigeria and Benin even after having a win over Lesotho given against them for using an suspended footballer.

It will represent South Korea's eleventh consecutive finals appearance. Legend Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and came in third place in the Best Player award when South Korea reached the semi-final in 2002. Hong is now their manager and guided them unbeaten through a far from easy qualifying group. The final side in Group A will be the winner of a European playoff involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

Canada have qualified for the World Cup on two occasions and, while Qatar 2022 yielded their first finals goal, it did not bring their first finals point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of probably the best group of players in their nation's history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which favorable the draw appears depends largely on whether the Italian national team make it through the European playoff (the remaining 3 teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have got through the initial phase in four of the last five World Cups and were last-eight participants at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket without defeat from probably the most straightforward of the UEFA groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players hoping to play at their fourth finals. Qatar, having finished in fourth in their third-round qualifying section, were handed a major advantage by being selected as a tournament host for the fourth round and clinched progress with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is selected exclusively from the domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland's first finals in 28 years looks a lot like their previous appearance, when they were defeated to the Seleção and the Atlas Lions; the Haitian team take the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to make it to the elimination phase for the first time after eight prior group phase exits. Haiti’s only prior World Cup, in 1974, was notable less for their three defeats than for the fate that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a drugs test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have restricted away support due to travel restrictions involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third coach in a qualifying process that included a streak of three successive defeats, but there is minimal risk in South American qualification these days. He has overseen a noticeable upturn in form. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the strongest of the north African nations, able both of dominating opponents and playing on the counter-attack, securing qualification with a perfect record.

Pool D

Early last year, the USA seemed in a dismal condition, suffering defeats 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 ideas understood and in November the USA beat Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will start against the Paraguayan side, who are playing in their sixth finals. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has led to both group phase eliminations and a quarter-final appearance. Their familiar cautious mindset hasn't altered: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

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

Group E

After back-to-back group phase eliminations, Germany are no longer the feared force of old. The transition to a more attacking style has introduced a fragility and the group initially looked like posing a huge test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualifying, finishing in second place 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, protected by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, let in a mere five.

Côte d’Ivoire exist in a state of constant pessimism, where nothing is ever as good as the golden squad of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Emerse Faé has proved transformative. Following an improbable continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualifying, netting 25 goals and conceding reply.

The smallest country ever to reach the finals, Curaçao, were the fourth team drawn, however, making the group look a lot less intimidating than it might have been.

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side perhaps lack the galacticos of past Dutch generations, but they secured qualification without losing and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, consistently looks a more reliable performer with his national side than at domestic level. They open against the Japanese team, who will play in their 8th consecutive World Cup, and were by some way the most dominant of the Asian sides in qualifying, suffering one of their 16 games over the two phases, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia made sure of a third straight World Cup appearance by topping a straightforward qualification section, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as defensive as some past Tunisian sides; they had a remarkable 14 separate scorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the European playoff (against Ukraine in the semi, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will set up a rematch of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

Belgium and Egypt 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 successful side in African football history, but having not managed to qualify during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully fulfilled their potential on the world stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them attacking threat, but it was a defensive unit that conceded just twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified undefeated.

A guaranteed place for Oceania effectively meant a spot at the finals for the All Whites, who cruised through qualifying, winning five games out of five, scoring 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. Iran, who were defeated only once in a tricky third-round qualification group, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly