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Pool A

This first fixture 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 win, achieved against Bulgaria when they previously were hosts in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that team and will be aiming for a third-ever quarter-final berth as tournament hosts. The South African side, coached by experienced Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, qualified for their first World Cup since hosting, ending above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a win over Lesotho awarded against them for using an suspended player.

It will represent Korea Republic's 11th successive finals appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and finished in third place in the Best Player award when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. Hong is now their coach and led them without a loss through a anything but easy 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 qualified for the World Cup twice and, while Qatar 2022 yielded their maiden finals goal, it did not deliver their first-ever point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of probably the best group of players in their nation's history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How favorable the group looks depends mostly on whether the Italian national team make it through the UEFA play-off (the other three contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have navigated the group stage in four of the last five World Cups and were last-eight participants at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified without defeat from arguably 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 World Cups. Qatar, having ended up fourth in their third-round qualifying section, were handed a major boost by being chosen as a tournament host for the fourth round and clinched progress with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is drawn entirely from the domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland's first finals in 28 years bears a lot like their previous appearance, when they were defeated to Brazil and Morocco; the Haitian team take the place of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the elimination phase for the very first time after 8 previous group-stage exits. Haiti’s sole previous World Cup, in 1974, was notable less for their three defeats than for the fate that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a doping test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have restricted traveling support due to travel restrictions involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third coach in a qualification campaign that included a streak of three consecutive defeats, but there is little jeopardy in South American qualifying these days. He has overseen a noticeable improvement. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the strongest of the north African nations, able both of overwhelming opponents and playing on the counter-attack, securing qualification 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 seemingly begun to get his ideas understood and in November the USA beat Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will start against Paraguay, who are competing in their 6th World Cup. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has led to both group phase eliminations and a last-eight appearance. Their familiar defensive approach has not changed: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most fluent Australia side and their squad lacks clear stars, but in spite of an iffy start to the third round of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their last two fixtures. The group’s final team will come from the winner of the European 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 posing a massive 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 featuring 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 permanent declinism, where nothing is ever quite successful as the glorious generation of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Emerse Faé has proved transformative. After an implausible continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualifying, netting 25 goals without reply.

The smallest country ever to reach the finals, Curaçao, were the final team drawn, however, making the group look a lot less intimidating than it could have been.

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side perhaps do not possess the star quality of past Dutch eras, but they secured qualification without losing and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, consistently looks a more effective performer with his country's side than at club level. They open against the Japanese team, who will participate in their 8th successive finals, and were by far the most impressive of the Asian nations in qualification, suffering one of their 16 games over the two groups, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia secured of a third consecutive World Cup berth by topping a straightforward qualification group, picking up 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are maybe not as defensive as some previous Tunisian teams; they had a remarkable 14 different 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 set up a repeat of the group stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

Belgium and Egypt are emerging from the shadow of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualifying, scoring the net eight times but conceding 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 failed to qualify during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite done themselves justice on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them attacking threat, but it was a defensive unit that conceded only twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified unbeaten.

A reserved place for Oceania essentially meant a spot at the finals for the All Whites, who cruised 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 once in a difficult third-round qualification section, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly