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Group A

This initial game at the iconic Azteca Stadium will replay the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's knockout stage history at the worldwide tournament includes just one victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that squad and will be targeting a third quarter-final berth as tournament hosts. South Africa, led by veteran Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, qualified for their first finals since they hosted, finishing above Nigeria and Benin even after having a win over Lesotho given against them for using an ineligible footballer.

This will represent South Korea's eleventh successive finals qualification. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came third in the Best Player voting when South Korea reached the semi-final in 2002. Hong is now their manager and led them unbeaten through a far from straightforward qualification group. The final side in Group A will be the victor of a UEFA playoff featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

The Canadian team have made it for the World Cup twice and, although Qatar 2022 brought their maiden finals goal, it did not bring their first-ever finals point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of arguably the best squad in their history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which kind the draw looks hinges mostly on whether the Italian national team progress through the UEFA play-off (the other three teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have got through the initial phase in four of the last five tournaments and were quarter-finalists at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket unbeaten from probably the most straightforward of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players hoping to play at their fourth finals. The Qatari team, having ended up in fourth in their third-round qualifying section, were handed a significant 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 entirely from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland's return to the World Cup in 28 years looks a lot like their last appearance, when they lost to the Seleção and the Atlas Lions; the Haitian team take the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the knockout phase for the first time after eight previous group phase eliminations. Haiti’s only prior World Cup, in 1974, was notable less for their three defeats 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 restricted away support due to travel restrictions involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third coach in a qualifying campaign that featured a run of three successive defeats, but there is minimal jeopardy in South American qualifying these days. He has overseen a clear improvement. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the best of the north African nations, capable both of overwhelming rivals and playing on the counter, securing qualification with a perfect record.

Group D

At the start of last year, the United States seemed in a poor state, 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 ideas understood and in November the USA beat Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will start against the Paraguayan side, who are competing in their 6th finals. They have secured one game at each of the prior five, a record that has resulted to both group phase eliminations and a last-eight appearance. Their trademark cautious approach has not altered: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most fluent Australian team and their squad lacks obvious stars, but in spite of an shaky start to the third phase of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side made it by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their final two fixtures. The pool's fourth team will emerge from the winner of the European Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following successive group-stage eliminations, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more attacking philosophy has introduced a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like presenting a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualifying, ending up second behind Argentina in South America. Although 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, let in a mere five.

Côte d’Ivoire exist in a state of constant pessimism, where nothing is ever quite good as the golden generation of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved transformative. After an improbable continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualification, netting 25 goals and conceding none.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side perhaps do not possess the galacticos of previous Dutch eras, but they secured qualification without losing and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, consistently looks a more reliable player with his country's side than at domestic level. They begin against the Japanese team, who will play in their 8th consecutive World Cup, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian nations in qualifying, losing one of their 16 games across the two groups, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side secured of a third consecutive World Cup berth by dominating a manageable qualification section, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as dour as some past Tunisian sides; they had a remarkable 14 separate goalscorers in qualification. 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 create a rematch of the group stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Group G

Belgium and Egypt are moving on from the legacy of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualifying, scoring the net eight times but letting in five in two wins over Wales, finding goals easily at times, but also struggling to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most successful side in African football history, but having failed to reach the finals 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 attacking threat, but it was a defence that allowed just twice in 10 games that meant they qualified unbeaten.

A guaranteed place for Oceania effectively equated to a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who sailed through qualifying, 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 were defeated only once in a tricky third phase qualification group, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly