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Group A

The first fixture at the iconic Azteca venue will echo the opener from 2010, when Bafana Bafana drew 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's elimination phase record at the global tournament features just a single victory, secured against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. Their manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that squad and will be targeting a third quarter-final appearance as tournament hosts. South Africa, coached by veteran Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first World Cup since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a victory over Lesotho given against them for fielding an suspended footballer.

It will mark Korea Republic's eleventh straight World Cup qualification. Legend Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and came third in the Best Player voting when South Korea reached the semi-final in 2002. He is now their coach and led them without a loss through a far from straightforward qualifying group. The final 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

The Canadian team have made it for the global finals on two occasions and, although Qatar 2022 brought their first finals goal, it did not deliver their first finals point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of arguably the best squad in their nation's history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which kind the draw looks depends largely on whether Italy progress through the UEFA playoff (the other three contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have navigated the initial phase in four of the last five World Cups and were quarter-finalists at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket without defeat from arguably the most straightforward of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players aiming to feature at their fourth World Cups. The Qatari team, having ended up in fourth in their third phase qualifying group, were given a major advantage by being chosen as a host for the fourth phase and secured qualification with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is drawn entirely from the domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland's return to the World Cup in 28 years looks a lot like their previous appearance, when they were defeated to the Seleção and the Atlas Lions; Haiti take the spot of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the elimination phase for the very first time after eight previous group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s only prior finals, 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 beaten by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have limited away support due to a travel ban from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third coach in a qualifying campaign that included a streak of three successive defeats, but there is little risk in South American qualifying these days. He has presided over a noticeable improvement. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the strongest of the north African sides, capable both of overwhelming opponents and playing on the counter-attack, securing qualification with a 100% record.

Pool D

At the start of last year, the United States seemed in a poor condition, losing to Panama and Canada in the Concacaf Nations League and to Turkey and Switzerland in friendly matches. But over the last year, Mauricio Pochettino has apparently begun to get his message understood and in November the USA beat Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will begin against Paraguay, who are competing in their 6th finals. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has led to both group phase exits and a quarter-final place. Their trademark defensive approach hasn't altered: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most fluent Australian team and their roster lacks clear stars, but despite an shaky beginning 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 fixtures. The pool's fourth team will emerge from the victor of Europe’s Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

Following successive group phase exits, Die Mannschaft are no longer the feared force of old. The transition to a more attacking philosophy has introduced a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like presenting a massive test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the revelations of qualifying, ending up in second place behind Argentina in South America. While they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a defence including Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a mere five.

Ivory Coast exist in a state of permanent pessimism, where nothing is ever as successful as the glorious 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 qualifying, netting 25 goals without reply.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side perhaps do not possess the star quality of previous Dutch eras, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualification, always appears a more reliable player with his national side than at domestic level. They open against the Japanese team, who will play in their 8th successive finals, and were by far the most impressive of the Asian sides in qualifying, suffering one of their 16 games over the two phases, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia made sure of a third straight World Cup appearance by dominating a straightforward qualification group, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as defensive as certain previous Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 separate scorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the UEFA play-off (against Ukraine in the semi, 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 executed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

Belgium and the Pharaohs are moving on from the shadow of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualifying, finding the net eight times but conceding 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 successful side in African football history, but having failed to qualify 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 attacking threat, but it was a defensive unit that allowed only twice in 10 games that meant they qualified unbeaten.

A reserved place for Oceania essentially meant a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who cruised through qualification, winning five games out of five, scoring 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 were defeated once in a tricky third-round qualification group, are on a travel ban, possibly