🔗 Share this article

Group A

This first match at the historic Azteca venue will mirror the first game from 2010, when South Africa drew 1-1 with Mexico. Mexico's elimination phase record at the worldwide tournament includes just a single win, achieved against Bulgaria when they last were hosts in 1986. Their manager, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that team and will be targeting a third-ever last-eight appearance as tournament hosts. The South African side, led by experienced Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, qualified for their initial World Cup since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a victory over Lesotho awarded against them for using an suspended player.

This will mark Korea Republic's 11th consecutive finals appearance. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured 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 anything but easy qualification group. The fourth team in Group A will be the victor of a UEFA playoff involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

Canada have qualified for the World Cup on two occasions and, although Qatar 2022 brought their maiden goal, it did not deliver their first finals point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of arguably the most talented group of players in their history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How kind the group looks hinges largely on whether the Italian national team make it through the European play-off (the remaining 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 last five tournaments and were last-eight participants at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket unbeaten from probably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players aiming to feature at their fourth finals. The Qatari team, having finished in fourth in their third phase qualification group, were handed a significant boost by being chosen as a tournament host for the final round and secured progress with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is drawn exclusively from the domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland's return to the finals in 28 years looks a lot like their previous appearance, when they were defeated to Brazil and the Atlas Lions; Haiti take the spot of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the knockout phase for the very first time after 8 previous group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s sole previous finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three losses than for the ordeal that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a doping test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have limited away support due to a travel ban from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third manager in a qualification campaign that featured a run of three successive defeats, but there is little risk in South American qualification these days. He has presided over a noticeable improvement. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the best of the north African sides, capable both of dominating rivals and playing on the counter-attack, securing qualification with a 100% win record.

Pool D

Early last year, the United States seemed in a dismal state, suffering defeats to Panama and Canada in the Concacaf Nations League and to Turkey and Switzerland in friendlies. But over the past 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 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 led to both group phase exits and a quarter-final appearance. Their trademark cautious approach hasn't changed: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most fluent Australia team and their squad lacks obvious stars, but in spite of an shaky start to the third phase of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side made it by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their last two matches. The group’s fourth team will come from the victor of Europe’s playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

After back-to-back group-stage exits, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The shift to a more attacking philosophy has introduced a vulnerability and the group initially looked like posing a massive test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the revelations of qualification, finishing second behind Argentina in South America. Although they netted only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline including Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a paltry five.

Côte d’Ivoire live in a state of constant pessimism, where nothing is ever as successful as the golden generation of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. Following an implausible continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualifying, netting 25 goals and conceding reply.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side perhaps lack the galacticos of previous Dutch generations, but they qualified without losing and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, always looks a more effective performer with his national side than at domestic level. They begin against the Japanese team, who will participate in their 8th successive finals, and were by far the most impressive of the Asian sides in qualifying, losing one of their 16 games across the two phases, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia secured of a third consecutive World Cup appearance by topping a straightforward qualifying group, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as dour as certain previous Tunisian teams; they had a remarkable 14 separate scorers in qualifying. 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 executed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

The Belgian Red Devils and the Pharaohs are moving on 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 not managed to reach the finals during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully done themselves justice on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defensive unit that conceded only twice in 10 games that meant they qualified undefeated.

A reserved place for Oceania essentially meant a spot at the finals for the All Whites, who cruised through qualifying, winning five games out of five, netting 29 goals, nine of them by Chris Wood, but they are the lowest-ranked side to have secured their place in North America next summer. Team Melli, who lost only once in a difficult third-round qualifying section, are on a travel ban, possibly