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Group A

This first fixture at the iconic Azteca venue will replay the first game from 2010, when South Africa drew 1-1 with Mexico. Mexico's elimination phase history at the worldwide showpiece features 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. The South African side, led by veteran Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial World Cup since hosting, ending above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a victory over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an suspended player.

This will represent Korea Republic's eleventh consecutive finals appearance. Legend Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and came third in the Golden Ball voting when South Korea made the last four in 2002. Hong is now their manager and led them without a loss through a far from straightforward qualifying group. The final team in Group A will be the winner of a European qualifying play-off involving 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 brought their first finals goal, it did not deliver their first finals point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of arguably the most talented group of players in their nation's history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How kind the draw appears hinges mostly on whether Italy make it through the UEFA playoff (the other 3 contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland 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 without defeat from probably the most straightforward of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast individuals aiming to play at their fourth finals. The Qatari team, having finished fourth in their third phase qualification group, were given a major advantage by being chosen as a host for the final round and clinched progress with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is selected entirely from the Qatari league.

Group C

Scotland first World Cup in 28 years looks a lot like their previous appearance, when they lost to Brazil and Morocco; the Haitian team take the spot of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the knockout stage for the first time after 8 prior group-stage 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 testing positive in a drugs test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have limited traveling support due to a travel ban involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third manager in a qualification campaign that featured a streak of three consecutive losses, but there is little jeopardy in South American qualifying 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, securing qualification with a perfect record.

Group D

At the start of last year, the USA seemed in a poor condition, losing to Panama and Canada in the Concacaf Nations League and to Turkey and Switzerland in friendlies. But over the past year, Mauricio Pochettino has apparently begun to get his message across and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will begin against the Paraguayan side, who are competing in their sixth World Cup. They have secured one game at each of the prior five, a statistic that has resulted to both group-stage eliminations and a quarter-final appearance. Their familiar defensive mindset has not changed: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most free-flowing Australia team and their squad is without obvious superstars, but despite an iffy start to the third phase of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side made it by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their final two fixtures. The pool's fourth team will emerge from the winner of Europe’s playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following back-to-back group-stage eliminations, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The shift to a more attacking philosophy has brought a fragility and the group initially looked like presenting a huge test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualification, ending up second 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, let in a mere five.

Côte d’Ivoire live in a state of permanent pessimism, where nothing is ever as successful as the glorious generation 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 ruthless in qualification, netting 25 goals without reply.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side perhaps lack the star quality of past Dutch generations, but they secured qualification unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored 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 consecutive finals, and were by far the most dominant of the Asian sides in qualifying, suffering one of their 16 games over the two phases, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia secured of a third consecutive finals appearance by dominating a straightforward qualification section, picking up 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as dour as some past Tunisian teams; they had a staggering 14 separate 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 create a repeat of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first executed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Group G

Belgium and the Pharaohs are moving on from the shadow of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualifying, scoring 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 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 fulfilled their potential on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defence that conceded only twice in 10 games that meant they qualified undefeated.

A guaranteed place for Oceania effectively equated to 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-ranked side to have booked their place in North America next summer. Team Melli, who lost once in a difficult third phase qualification group, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly