🔗 Share this article

Pool A

This initial fixture at the famous Azteca Stadium will replay the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana drew 1-1 with El Tri. The Mexican team's elimination phase record at the worldwide showpiece features just one victory, secured against Bulgaria when they previously were hosts in 1986. Their manager, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that squad and will be aiming for a third last-eight berth as tournament hosts. South Africa, coached by veteran Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, qualified for their first World Cup since they hosted, ending above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a win over Lesotho given against them for fielding an ineligible footballer.

It will mark Korea Republic's 11th straight World Cup qualification. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished third in the Best Player award when South Korea made the semi-final in 2002. Hong is now their coach and led them unbeaten through a anything but easy qualifying section. The final side in Group A will be the victor of a European qualifying play-off featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

The Canadian team have made it for the global finals twice and, while Qatar 2022 brought their first finals goal, it did not bring their first-ever point. Jesse Marsch is the manager 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. The extent to which favorable the group appears depends mostly on whether Italy progress through the UEFA play-off (the other 3 teams 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 World Cups and were last-eight participants at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket unbeaten from arguably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players aiming to play at their fourth finals. Qatar, having finished fourth in their third phase qualifying section, were handed a major advantage by being chosen as a host for the final phase and clinched qualification with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected entirely from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland first finals in 28 years looks a lot like their last outing, when they lost to the Seleção and Morocco; the Haitian team occupy the place of Norway. Their aim will be to make it to the elimination stage for the first time after eight previous group phase 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 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 took over as Brazil’s third coach in a qualification process that featured a streak of three successive losses, but there is little jeopardy in South American qualifying these days. He has presided over a clear upturn in form. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the strongest of the north African nations, able both of overwhelming rivals and playing on the counter-attack, qualifying with a perfect win record.

Group D

At the start of last year, the USA seemed in a poor state, suffering defeats 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 defeated Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will begin against the Paraguayan side, who are playing in their 6th finals. They have secured one game at each of the prior five, a record that has led to both group-stage eliminations and a last-eight appearance. Their familiar cautious approach has not altered: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australian side and their squad lacks obvious superstars, but in spite of an iffy beginning to the third phase of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side made it by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their final two fixtures. The pool's fourth team will emerge from the victor of the European Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

After back-to-back group-stage eliminations, Germany are no longer the feared force of old. The shift to a more attacking style has introduced a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like posing a massive challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualification, ending up second behind Argentina in South America. While they netted only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline 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 constant declinism, where nothing is ever quite good as the golden squad of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved transformative. After an improbable continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, netting 25 goals and conceding none.

The smallest country ever to reach the finals, the Curaçao team, were the fourth team drawn, though, making the group look a lot less daunting than it could have appeared.

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side perhaps do not possess the galacticos of previous Dutch eras, but they secured qualification unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, consistently looks a more reliable performer with his country's side than at domestic level. They open against the Japanese team, who will participate in their 8th successive World Cup, and were by some way the most dominant of the Asian nations in qualifying, losing one of their 16 games over the two groups, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side made sure of a third straight World Cup berth by dominating a manageable qualifying section, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as dour as certain past Tunisian teams; they had a remarkable 14 different scorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the European 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 iconic Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

Belgium and Egypt are emerging from the legacy of golden generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, finding 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 successful side in African history, but having failed to reach the finals during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully fulfilled their potential on the world 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 guaranteed place for Oceania effectively equated to a spot at the finals for the All Whites, who sailed through qualifying, 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. Iran, who lost only once in a tricky third phase qualifying section, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially