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Group A

This first fixture at the iconic Azteca venue will replay the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana drew 1-1 with Mexico. The Mexican team's knockout stage history at the worldwide tournament features just a single victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they last were hosts in 1986. Their manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that squad and will be aiming for a third-ever last-eight appearance as tournament hosts. The South African side, led by veteran Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first finals since they hosted, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a victory over Lesotho awarded against them for using an ineligible footballer.

It will mark South Korea's 11th successive finals qualification. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished third in the Best Player award when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. He is now their coach and guided them without a loss through a far from easy qualifying section. The final team 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.

Group B

The Canadian team have qualified for the World Cup twice and, while Qatar 2022 yielded their maiden finals goal, it did not deliver their first-ever finals 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. How favorable the group appears depends mostly on whether the Italian national team make it through the European play-off (the other three contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have navigated the initial phase in four of the past five tournaments and were quarter-finalists at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified unbeaten from arguably the most straightforward of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players aiming to play at their fourth finals. Qatar, having finished fourth in their third-round qualification section, were given a major boost by being selected as a host for the final round and clinched qualification with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected exclusively from the domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland first World Cup in 28 years bears a lot like their last outing, when they lost to Brazil and Morocco; the Haitian team take the spot of Norway. Their aim will be to make it to the elimination phase for the very first time after eight prior group phase exits. Haiti’s only previous finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats than for the fate that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a doping test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have limited traveling support due to a travel ban involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became 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 improvement. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the best of the north African nations, capable both of dominating opponents and playing on the counter-attack, qualifying with a perfect record.

Pool D

Early last year, the USA seemed in a dismal 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 across and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will start against Paraguay, who are competing in their sixth finals. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has led to both group-stage exits and a quarter-final appearance. Their familiar cautious approach hasn't altered: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australia team and their roster is without obvious stars, but in spite of an iffy start to the third round of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their last two matches. The pool's fourth team will emerge from the winner of the European playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

Following back-to-back group-stage exits, Germany are no longer the bogeymen of old. The shift to a more progressive style has brought a vulnerability and the group initially looked like presenting a huge test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualifying, finishing 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 pessimism, where nothing is ever quite successful as the golden generation 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 success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualification, scoring 25 goals without reply.

The tiniest 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.

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe lack the star quality of past Dutch generations, but they qualified without losing and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, always looks a more reliable performer with his national side than at domestic level. They open against Japan, who will participate in their 8th successive finals, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian nations in qualifying, suffering one of their 16 games over the two phases, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side secured of a third straight World Cup appearance by dominating a manageable qualifying group, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team 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 playoff (against Ukraine in the semi-final, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will set up a rematch of the group stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

Belgium and Egypt are emerging from the legacy of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualification, scoring the net eight times but conceding five in two wins over Wales, scoring 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 reach the finals during their peak 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 just twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified undefeated.

A guaranteed place for Oceania effectively equated to a spot at the finals for New Zealand, 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. Team Melli, who lost only once in a tricky third phase qualification section, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly