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Group A

The initial game at the famous Azteca venue will mirror the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with El Tri. The Mexican team's elimination stage record at the worldwide showpiece includes just a single win, secured against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that squad and will be aiming for a third last-eight appearance as hosts. South Africa, led by veteran Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, qualified for their initial finals since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin even after having a victory over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an ineligible footballer.

It will mark South Korea's eleventh successive World Cup qualification. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished third in the Golden Ball voting when South Korea reached the semi-final in 2002. Hong is now their manager and led them unbeaten through a anything but straightforward qualifying section. The fourth side in Group A will be the victor of a UEFA qualifying play-off involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

Canada have qualified for the global finals on two occasions and, although Qatar 2022 yielded their first finals goal, it did not bring their first-ever finals point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of probably the most talented squad in their history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which favorable the group appears hinges mostly on whether Italy progress through the European play-off (the other three teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have navigated the group stage in four of the last five tournaments and were last-eight participants at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified without defeat from arguably the most straightforward of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players aiming to play at their fourth finals. Qatar, having ended up in fourth in their third-round qualifying section, were handed a significant advantage by being chosen as a tournament host for the fourth round and clinched qualification with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is drawn entirely from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland's first finals in 28 years bears a lot like their last appearance, when they were defeated to Brazil and Morocco; the Haitian team occupy the spot of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the elimination stage for the very first time after eight prior group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s sole prior finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three losses than for the ordeal that happened to 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 travel restrictions from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third coach in a qualification process that included a run of three consecutive defeats, but there is little risk in South American qualification these days. He has overseen a noticeable improvement. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the strongest of the north African nations, able both of overwhelming opponents and playing on the counter, qualifying with a 100% win record.

Pool D

At the start of 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 friendlies. But over the past year, Mauricio Pochettino has apparently begun to get his ideas across and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will begin against Paraguay, who are competing in their sixth finals. They have won one game at each of the prior five, a statistic that has resulted to both group-stage eliminations and a last-eight place. Their familiar cautious mindset hasn't altered: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australia side and their squad is without clear stars, but despite an iffy beginning to the third phase of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their last two matches. The group’s final team will come from the victor of Europe’s Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

After successive group-stage eliminations, Germany are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more attacking style has introduced a fragility and the draw initially looked like posing a massive test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualifying, ending up in second place behind Argentina in South America. Although they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a defence featuring Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, protected by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, let in a paltry five.

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

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side perhaps do not possess the galacticos of past Dutch eras, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualification, 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 consecutive World Cup, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian sides in qualification, losing one of their 16 games across the two phases, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side secured of a third straight finals berth by dominating a straightforward qualification group, picking up 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as defensive as certain past Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 separate goalscorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the UEFA 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 famous Cruyff Turn.

Group G

Belgium and Egypt are moving on from the legacy of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, finding 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 decorated side in African history, but having failed to qualify during their peak period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite done themselves justice on the global 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 undefeated.

A reserved place for Oceania essentially meant a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who sailed 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 secured their place in North America next summer. Iran, who lost only once in a difficult third-round qualification group, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly