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Group A

This opening game at the historic Azteca venue will echo the opener from 2010, when Bafana Bafana drew 1-1 with Mexico. Mexico's elimination phase history at the global tournament includes just a single win, achieved against Bulgaria when they last were hosts in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be aiming for a third-ever last-eight appearance as hosts. South Africa, coached by experienced Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, qualified for their first World Cup since they hosted, ending above Nigeria and Benin even after having a win over Lesotho awarded against them for using an ineligible player.

This will mark South Korea's eleventh straight World Cup appearance. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished in third place in the Golden Ball voting when South Korea made the semi-final in 2002. Hong is now their manager and guided them without a loss through a far from easy qualifying group. The fourth team in Group A will be the victor of a European qualifying play-off involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

Canada have made it for the World Cup on two occasions and, although Qatar 2022 yielded their first goal, it did not bring their first finals point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of probably the most talented squad in their nation's history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How kind the group appears hinges mostly on whether the Italian national team make it through the European playoff (the other 3 contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have got through the initial phase in four of the past five tournaments and were last-eight participants at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified unbeaten from probably the most straightforward of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast individuals hoping to play at their fourth finals. Qatar, having ended up fourth in their third-round qualification section, were handed a major boost by being selected as a host for the fourth round and clinched qualification with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is drawn exclusively from the domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland return to the finals in 28 years bears a lot like their previous outing, when they were defeated to the Seleção and Morocco; Haiti take the spot of Norway. Their primary objective will be to make it to the knockout phase for the very first time after 8 previous group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s sole previous finals, in 1974, was notable less for their three defeats 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 sent back. They will have limited away support due to a travel ban from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third coach in a qualification campaign that featured a run of three consecutive defeats, but there is minimal jeopardy in South American qualifying these days. He has overseen a noticeable upturn in form. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the strongest of the north African nations, able both of overwhelming rivals and playing on the counter-attack, qualifying with a perfect win record.

Pool D

At the start of last year, the USA 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 seemingly begun to get his ideas across 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 sixth finals. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has resulted to both group-stage exits and a quarter-final place. Their familiar cautious mindset hasn't altered: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most fluent Australian side and their squad is without obvious stars, but despite an shaky 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 final team will come from the winner of Europe’s Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following successive group-stage exits, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The shift to a more attacking philosophy has introduced a fragility and the group initially looked like presenting a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualifying, finishing in second place behind Argentina in South America. Although they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a defence including Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, protected by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a paltry five.

Ivory Coast exist in a state of constant declinism, where nothing is ever as good as the glorious generation of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Emerse Faé has proved transformative. After an implausible continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualifying, netting 25 goals and conceding none.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side perhaps lack the galacticos of previous Dutch eras, but they secured qualification unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, consistently looks a more effective player with his country's side than at club level. They open against the Japanese team, who will play in their 8th consecutive finals, and were by some way the most dominant of the Asian sides in qualifying, suffering one of their 16 games over the two groups, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia secured of a third consecutive finals appearance by dominating a manageable qualifying section, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as dour as some previous Tunisian teams; they had a remarkable 14 separate scorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the European playoff (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 performed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Group G

Belgium and the Pharaohs are emerging from the legacy of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, finding the net eight times but letting in five in two wins over Wales, scoring easily at times, but also struggling to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most decorated 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 world stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defence that conceded just twice in 10 games that meant they qualified undefeated.

A guaranteed place for Oceania effectively meant a spot at the finals for New Zealand, 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 only once in a difficult third phase qualifying group, are on a travel ban, possibly