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Group A

This initial match at the iconic Azteca Stadium will mirror the opener from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with Mexico. The Mexican team's elimination stage record at the global showpiece includes just one victory, secured against Bulgaria when they previously hosted in 1986. Their coach, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that squad and will be aiming for a third-ever quarter-final appearance as hosts. The South African side, coached by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first World Cup since hosting, ending above Nigeria and Benin even after having a win over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an ineligible footballer.

This will mark South Korea's eleventh straight World Cup appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished in third place in the Best Player voting when South Korea made the semi-final in 2002. He is now their coach and guided them without a loss through a far from easy qualification section. The final side in Group A will be the victor of a UEFA playoff involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

The Canadian team have made it for the global finals twice and, while Qatar 2022 yielded their first goal, it did not bring their first point. Jesse Marsch is the manager 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. The extent to which favorable the group appears depends largely on whether Italy make it through the European 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 navigated the group stage in four of the past five tournaments and were last-eight participants at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket without defeat from arguably the most straightforward of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast individuals hoping to play at their fourth World Cups. Qatar, having finished fourth in their third phase qualifying group, were handed a major advantage by being selected as a tournament host for the fourth phase and secured progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected entirely from the domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland return to the finals in 28 years bears a lot like their last appearance, when they were defeated to the Seleção and the Atlas Lions; the Haitian team take the place of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the elimination phase for the first time after 8 previous group phase eliminations. Haiti’s only previous finals, in 1974, was notable less for their three losses than for the ordeal 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 involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third coach in a qualification campaign that featured a run of three consecutive losses, but there is minimal risk in South American qualification these days. He has overseen a clear upturn in form. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the best of the north African sides, capable both of dominating rivals and playing on the counter-attack, qualifying with a perfect record.

Pool D

At the start of last year, the USA seemed in a dismal state, suffering defeats to Panama and Canada in the Concacaf Nations League and to Turkey and Switzerland in friendlies. But over the last year, Mauricio Pochettino has apparently begun to get his ideas understood and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will begin against Paraguay, who are playing in their 6th finals. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has resulted to both group-stage exits and a quarter-final appearance. Their trademark cautious mindset has not altered: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most free-flowing Australian team and their squad lacks clear stars, but in spite of an iffy start to the third round of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side made it by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their final two fixtures. The group’s fourth team will come from the victor of the European playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

Following successive group-stage exits, Germany are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more attacking philosophy has introduced a fragility and the group initially looked like presenting a massive test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the surprise package of qualifying, finishing second behind Argentina in South America. Although 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, let in a mere five.

Côte d’Ivoire exist in a state of constant pessimism, where nothing is ever as successful as the glorious squad of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. Following an improbable continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualifying, netting 25 goals without none.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side perhaps do not possess the galacticos of past Dutch eras, but they secured qualification without losing and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, always appears a more reliable performer with his national side than at club level. They begin against the Japanese team, who will participate in their eighth successive finals, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian sides in qualification, losing one of their 16 games across the two groups, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia made sure of a third consecutive finals appearance by topping a manageable qualification section, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as defensive as certain previous Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 separate goalscorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the UEFA playoff (against Ukraine in the semi-final, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will set up a rematch of the group stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

The Belgian Red Devils and Egypt are moving on from the legacy of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, scoring the net eight times but conceding five in two wins over Wales, finding goals freely at times, but also laboring to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most successful side in African 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 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 meant they qualified unbeaten.

A reserved place for Oceania effectively equated to a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who cruised 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 were defeated once in a difficult third phase qualification group, are on a travel ban, possibly