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Group A

The opening game at the famous Azteca Stadium will replay the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana drew 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's elimination stage history at the worldwide showpiece includes just a single win, achieved against Bulgaria when they previously hosted in 1986. Their coach, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that squad and will be aiming for a third-ever quarter-final appearance as tournament hosts. The South African side, led by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first World Cup since they hosted, ending above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a win over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an ineligible footballer.

It will represent South Korea's eleventh straight World Cup appearance. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished third in the Best Player voting when South Korea made the semi-final in 2002. Hong is now their manager and guided them unbeaten through a far from straightforward qualifying group. The final team in Group A will be the winner of a UEFA qualifying play-off involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

Canada have made it for the global finals on two occasions and, although Qatar 2022 yielded their maiden goal, it did not bring their first-ever point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of probably the most talented squad in their nation's history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which favorable the group appears hinges mostly on whether Italy progress through the European playoff (the remaining three teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have got through the group stage in four of the past five World Cups and were last-eight participants at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket unbeaten from arguably the easiest of the UEFA groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players hoping to feature at their fourth World Cups. Qatar, having ended up fourth in their third-round qualification group, were given a significant boost by being chosen as a tournament host for the final phase and secured qualification with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is drawn exclusively from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland's return to the World Cup in 28 years bears a lot like their last appearance, when they were defeated to the Seleção and Morocco; Haiti occupy the spot of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the knockout phase for the first time after eight prior group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s sole previous World Cup, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats than for the fate that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a doping test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have restricted away support due to a travel ban involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third manager in a qualification process that featured a run of three successive losses, but there is minimal jeopardy in South American qualification these days. He has presided over a noticeable improvement. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the strongest of the north African nations, capable both of dominating rivals and playing on the counter, securing qualification with a perfect record.

Group D

At the start of 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 last year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his ideas across and in November the USA beat Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will start against the Paraguayan side, who are playing in their 6th finals. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has resulted to both group phase exits and a last-eight appearance. Their trademark cautious mindset hasn't altered: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australian team and their roster lacks obvious stars, but despite an shaky beginning to the third round of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side made it by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their final two fixtures. The group’s final team will come from the victor of Europe’s Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following back-to-back group phase exits, Die Mannschaft are no longer the feared force of old. The shift to a more progressive philosophy has introduced a vulnerability and the group initially looked like posing a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the revelations of qualification, finishing second behind Argentina in South America. While they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a defence featuring Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, let in a mere five.

Ivory Coast exist in a state of constant pessimism, where nothing is ever quite successful as the glorious squad of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved transformative. After an implausible continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualifying, scoring 25 goals and conceding none.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side maybe do not possess the galacticos of previous Dutch eras, but they secured qualification without losing and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualification, always looks a more effective performer with his national side than at club level. They begin against Japan, who will play in their 8th consecutive finals, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian nations in qualifying, suffering one of their 16 games across the two phases, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia 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 perhaps not as defensive as some past Tunisian sides; they had a remarkable 14 separate goalscorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress 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 famous Cruyff Turn.

Group G

The Belgian Red Devils and the Pharaohs are moving on 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 easily at times, but also laboring to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most decorated side in African football history, but having failed to qualify during their peak period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully fulfilled their potential on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them attacking threat, but it was a defence that conceded 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 sailed 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. Iran, who were defeated once in a tricky third phase qualifying group, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly