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Pool A

This first fixture at the famous Azteca venue will replay the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana drew 1-1 with Mexico. Mexico's knockout phase history 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 squad and will be targeting a third last-eight berth as hosts. The South African side, coached by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial World Cup since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a win over Lesotho given against them for fielding an ineligible player.

This will mark South Korea's 11th successive World Cup appearance. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came in third place in the Golden Ball voting when South Korea reached the semi-final in 2002. Hong is now their manager and led them unbeaten through a anything but straightforward qualifying group. The fourth side in Group A will be the winner of a European playoff involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

The Canadian team have made it for the World Cup twice and, although Qatar 2022 yielded their first goal, it did not bring their first-ever point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of probably the best group of players in their history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which kind the draw appears depends largely on whether Italy make it through the European play-off (the remaining three 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 last-eight participants at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified without defeat from arguably the most straightforward of the UEFA groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast individuals hoping to feature at their fourth World Cups. The Qatari team, having ended up in fourth in their third phase qualifying group, were given a major boost by being selected as a tournament host for the final phase and secured progress with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected entirely from the domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland's return to the finals in 28 years bears a lot like their last appearance, when they lost to the Seleção and Morocco; Haiti occupy the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the knockout stage for the very first time after 8 prior group phase eliminations. Haiti’s only prior finals, 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 sent back. They will have limited traveling support due to travel restrictions involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third manager in a qualifying process that featured a run of three consecutive defeats, but there is minimal jeopardy in South American qualifying these days. He has overseen a noticeable upturn in form. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the best of the north African nations, able both of dominating rivals and playing on the counter, qualifying with a perfect record.

Pool D

Early 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 friendly matches. But over the past year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his message across and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will begin against the Paraguayan side, who are competing in their 6th finals. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has resulted to both group-stage eliminations and a last-eight appearance. Their familiar defensive approach hasn't altered: 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 lacks obvious stars, but in spite of an iffy beginning to the third phase of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their last two fixtures. The pool's fourth team will come from the victor of the European Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

After successive group-stage eliminations, Germany are no longer the bogeymen of old. The shift to a more progressive philosophy has introduced a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like posing a massive test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the revelations of qualifying, ending up second behind Argentina in South America. While they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a defence featuring Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a mere five.

Côte d’Ivoire live in a state of constant declinism, where nothing is ever as good as the golden 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, netting 25 goals without none.

The tiniest country ever to qualify, Curaçao, were the fourth team picked, however, making the group look a lot less daunting than it could have appeared.

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side maybe do not possess the galacticos of past Dutch generations, but they qualified without losing and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, always appears a more effective player with his country's side than at domestic level. They begin against Japan, who will participate in their 8th consecutive finals, and were by some way the most dominant of the Asian sides in qualifying, suffering one of their 16 games over the two groups, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side made sure of a third straight World Cup berth by dominating a manageable qualification section, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as defensive as certain past Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 different goalscorers in qualifying. 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 stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first executed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

The Belgian Red Devils and the Pharaohs are moving on from the legacy of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic 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 qualify during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite fulfilled their potential on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defensive unit that allowed just twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified undefeated.

A guaranteed place for Oceania effectively equated to a spot at the finals for the All Whites, who cruised through qualifying, 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 tricky third-round qualification section, are on a travel ban, possibly