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Group A

This initial match at the iconic Azteca Stadium will replay the opener from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with El Tri. The Mexican team's knockout phase record at the worldwide tournament features just a single victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they last were hosts in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that team and will be targeting a third quarter-final berth as hosts. South Africa, coached by veteran Belgian manager Hugo Broos, qualified for their initial finals since hosting, ending above Nigeria and Benin despite having a victory over Lesotho given against them for using an suspended footballer.

It will represent Korea Republic's eleventh straight World Cup qualification. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished in third place in the Golden Ball award when South Korea made the last four in 2002. He is now their manager and guided them unbeaten through a far from easy qualification group. The fourth side in Group A will be the victor of a UEFA playoff involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

Canada have qualified for the global finals on two occasions and, although Qatar 2022 yielded their first goal, it did not bring their first-ever finals point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of arguably the best squad in their nation's history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which kind the draw appears hinges largely on whether Italy progress through the UEFA play-off (the other 3 contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have got through 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 unbeaten 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 World Cups. Qatar, having finished fourth in their third phase qualifying group, were given a significant boost 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 Qatari league.

Group C

Scotland first World Cup in 28 years bears a lot like their previous outing, when they lost to the Seleção and Morocco; the Haitian team take the place of Norway. Their aim will be to make it to the elimination stage for the very first time after 8 previous group-stage exits. Haiti’s only previous World Cup, in 1974, was notable less for their three losses than for the fate that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a drugs test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have restricted away support due to a travel ban involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third coach in a qualification process that included a run of three consecutive defeats, but there is little jeopardy in South American qualifying these days. He has overseen a noticeable improvement. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the best of the north African sides, able both of dominating opponents and playing on the counter, securing qualification with a perfect record.

Pool D

Early last year, the United States seemed in a dismal condition, 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 routing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will begin against Paraguay, who are competing in their sixth finals. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a record that has resulted to both group-stage 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 qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australian side and their roster lacks obvious stars, but despite an iffy beginning to the third round of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their last two fixtures. The pool's final team will come from the winner of the European Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following back-to-back group phase exits, Die Mannschaft are no longer the feared force of old. The shift to a more progressive philosophy has brought a fragility and the group initially looked like posing a huge test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualification, ending up in second place behind Argentina in South America. While they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline featuring Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, protected by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a paltry five.

Ivory Coast exist in a state of permanent pessimism, 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, head coach Emerse Faé has proved transformative. Following an improbable continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualifying, netting 25 goals without none.

The tiniest country ever to qualify, Curaçao, were the fourth team drawn, though, making the group look a lot less intimidating than it could have been.

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe lack the galacticos of past Dutch eras, but they qualified without losing and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualification, always appears a more effective player with his country's side than at domestic level. They open against Japan, who will play in their 8th consecutive finals, and were by far the most impressive of the Asian nations in qualifying, losing one of their 16 games over the two phases, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side secured of a third consecutive World Cup appearance by topping a manageable qualifying section, picking up 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as defensive as some previous Tunisian teams; they had a staggering 14 different 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 rematch of the group stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first executed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

Belgium and the Pharaohs are moving on from the legacy of their most talented 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 laboring 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 peak 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 defensive unit that allowed only twice in 10 games that meant they qualified unbeaten.

A reserved place for Oceania essentially meant a spot at the finals for the All Whites, who cruised through qualification, 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. Team Melli, who lost once in a difficult third-round qualifying group, are on a travel ban, possibly