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Pool A

The opening match at the iconic Azteca venue will echo the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana drew 1-1 with El Tri. The Mexican team's elimination phase history at the worldwide tournament features just one win, achieved against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. Their manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be targeting a third last-eight berth as tournament hosts. The South African side, coached by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, qualified for their initial World Cup since they hosted, ending 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 11th successive World Cup appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came third in the Best Player award when South Korea made the semi-final in 2002. Hong is now their manager and guided them without a loss through a far from straightforward qualifying section. The fourth team in Group A will be the winner of a UEFA qualifying play-off featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

The Canadian team have qualified for the World Cup twice and, while Qatar 2022 yielded their maiden goal, it did not bring their first point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of probably 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 favorable the group appears depends largely on whether Italy progress through the UEFA play-off (the other three 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 past five World Cups and were last-eight participants at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket unbeaten from probably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players aiming to feature at their fourth finals. Qatar, having ended up in fourth in their third-round qualification section, were handed a major boost by being selected as a tournament host for the fourth round and clinched qualification with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is selected exclusively from the Qatari league.

Pool C

Scotland's first World Cup in 28 years bears a lot like their previous appearance, when they lost to the Seleção and the Atlas Lions; Haiti take the spot of Norway. Their primary objective will be to make it to the knockout stage for the very first time after eight prior group phase eliminations. Haiti’s sole previous World Cup, in 1974, was notable less for their three losses than for the ordeal that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing 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 coach in a qualification process that featured a streak of three consecutive defeats, but there is little risk in South American qualification these days. He has presided over a noticeable upturn in form. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the strongest of the north African nations, capable both of overwhelming opponents and playing on the counter-attack, qualifying with a 100% win record.

Group D

Early last year, the United States 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 last year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his ideas understood and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will start against the Paraguayan side, who are playing in their sixth World Cup. They have won one game at each of the prior five, a statistic that has led to both group-stage eliminations and a quarter-final appearance. Their familiar cautious approach hasn't changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australian team and their squad 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 immense pressure in their final two fixtures. The pool's final team will come from the winner of the European playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following back-to-back group phase exits, Germany are no longer the bogeymen of old. The shift to a more progressive philosophy has introduced a vulnerability and the group initially looked like posing a massive challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualification, ending up in second place behind Argentina in South America. Although they netted only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline including Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a paltry five.

Ivory Coast exist in a state of constant declinism, where nothing is ever quite good 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. After an implausible continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualifying, netting 25 goals and conceding reply.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side maybe do not possess the galacticos of past Dutch generations, but they secured qualification unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, always looks a more reliable performer with his national side than at domestic level. They begin against the Japanese team, who will play in their 8th successive World Cup, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian sides in qualifying, losing one of their 16 games over the two groups, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia secured of a third straight finals berth by dominating a straightforward qualification group, picking up 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are maybe not as defensive as certain previous Tunisian teams; they had a remarkable 14 different scorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the European 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 Egypt are moving on from the legacy of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualifying, finding the net eight times but letting in 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 decorated 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 world stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defensive unit that conceded only twice in 10 games that meant they qualified undefeated.

A reserved place for Oceania effectively 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 once in a difficult third phase qualifying group, are on a travel ban, potentially