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Pool A

The initial fixture at the iconic Azteca venue will mirror the opener from 2010, when South Africa drew 1-1 with Mexico. The Mexican team's knockout phase record at the worldwide tournament includes just one victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they previously were hosts in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that squad and will be targeting a third quarter-final appearance as hosts. South Africa, led by veteran Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, qualified for their initial World Cup since they hosted, ending above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a win over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an suspended player.

It will represent Korea Republic's 11th successive World Cup qualification. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came in third place in the Best Player award when South Korea made the last four in 2002. He is now their manager and led them unbeaten through a far from straightforward qualification section. The fourth team in Group A will be the victor of a UEFA qualifying play-off featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

The Canadian team have made it for the World Cup twice and, although Qatar 2022 yielded their maiden goal, it did not deliver their first-ever point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of probably the best squad in their nation's history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How favorable the group appears hinges largely on whether the Italian national team make it through the European play-off (the remaining three contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have navigated the initial phase in four of the past five World Cups and were quarter-finalists 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 experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast individuals aiming to play at their fourth World Cups. Qatar, having finished in fourth in their third-round qualification section, were given a major boost by being selected as a tournament host for the fourth round and secured progress with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is selected exclusively from the Qatari league.

Group C

Scotland return to the World Cup in 28 years bears a lot like their last appearance, when they were defeated to the Seleção and the Atlas Lions; the Haitian team occupy the spot of Norway. Their primary objective will be to make it to the elimination phase for the very first time after eight previous group phase eliminations. Haiti’s only prior finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three losses than for the fate 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 limited traveling support due to travel restrictions involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third manager in a qualifying campaign that featured a run of three successive defeats, but there is minimal jeopardy in South American qualification these days. He has overseen a noticeable improvement. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the strongest of the north African sides, capable both of overwhelming opponents and playing on the counter, securing qualification with a perfect record.

Group 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 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 routing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will start against the Paraguayan side, who are playing in their 6th finals. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a record that has resulted to both group-stage exits and a quarter-final appearance. Their trademark defensive approach has not changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most free-flowing Australian side and their roster is without obvious stars, but despite an shaky start to the third round of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side made it by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their last two fixtures. The pool's final team will emerge from the victor of the European playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following successive group-stage exits, Die Mannschaft are no longer the feared force of old. The transition to a more progressive style has brought a fragility and the group initially looked like posing a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the revelations of qualifying, finishing second behind Argentina in South America. While they netted 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.

Ivory Coast live in a state of permanent pessimism, where nothing is ever as good as the glorious 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 success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualification, scoring 25 goals without reply.

The smallest country ever to qualify, Curaçao, were the fourth team drawn, however, making the group look a lot far less daunting than it could have been.

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side perhaps do not possess the star quality of past Dutch generations, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, always appears a more effective performer with his national side than at domestic level. They open against the Japanese team, who will play in their 8th successive finals, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian sides in qualification, losing one of their 16 games over the two phases, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side made sure of a third straight finals appearance by topping a manageable qualifying group, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are maybe not as defensive as certain past Tunisian teams; they had a staggering 14 separate scorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress 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 performed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

The Belgian Red Devils and the Pharaohs 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 letting in five in two wins over Wales, scoring easily at times, but also laboring to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most decorated side in African football history, but having failed to reach the finals during their peak period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully done themselves justice 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 guaranteed place for Oceania essentially equated to a spot at the finals for the All Whites, who sailed 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. Iran, who lost only once in a difficult third phase qualification section, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly