🔗 Share this article

Group A

The initial fixture at the famous Azteca venue will replay the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with Mexico. The Mexican team's elimination phase record at the global showpiece includes just a single victory, secured against Bulgaria when they previously hosted in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be aiming for a third quarter-final appearance as hosts. The South African side, coached by experienced Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, secured their place for their initial World Cup since hosting, ending above Nigeria and Benin even after having a victory over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an suspended footballer.

It will mark Korea Republic's eleventh successive World Cup qualification. Icon Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and came in third place in the Golden Ball voting when South Korea reached the semi-final in 2002. He is now their coach and guided them without a loss through a anything but straightforward qualification section. The fourth team in Group A will be the winner of a European playoff featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

Canada have made it for the global finals 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 arguably the best group of players in their history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which kind the draw looks hinges largely on whether the Italian national team make it through the UEFA play-off (the remaining three teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have got through the group stage in four of the past five tournaments and were last-eight participants at the past 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, have players hoping to feature at their fourth finals. Qatar, having finished in fourth in their third phase qualification group, were given a major advantage by being selected as a tournament host for the fourth phase and clinched progress with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is selected exclusively from the Qatari league.

Group C

Scotland return to the finals in 28 years bears a lot like their previous outing, when they were defeated to the Seleção and Morocco; the Haitian team occupy the spot of Norway. Their primary objective will be to make it to the elimination phase for the first time after eight prior group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s sole prior World Cup, 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 assaulted by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have limited away support due to travel restrictions from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third manager in a qualifying campaign that included a streak of three successive losses, 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 nations, capable both of overwhelming rivals and playing on the counter, securing qualification with a perfect win record.

Pool D

Early last year, the USA seemed in a poor condition, losing to Panama and Canada in the Concacaf Nations League and to Turkey and Switzerland in friendlies. But over the past year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his ideas across and in November the USA beat Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will begin against Paraguay, who are competing in their 6th finals. They have won one game at each of the prior five, a record that has resulted to both group phase exits and a last-eight appearance. Their familiar cautious approach has not changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australian team and their roster is without clear stars, but despite an iffy beginning to the third phase of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their last two matches. The group’s final team will come from the winner of the European Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

After successive group-stage eliminations, Germany are no longer the feared force of old. The shift to a more attacking philosophy has introduced a fragility and the group initially looked like posing a huge test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualifying, 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, conceded a mere five.

Ivory Coast exist in a state of constant declinism, where nothing is ever quite good as the glorious generation of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. Following an implausible continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualification, scoring 25 goals and conceding reply.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side maybe lack the galacticos of past Dutch eras, but they secured qualification without losing and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualification, consistently appears a more effective player with his national side than at club level. They begin against Japan, who will play in their eighth successive World Cup, and were by some way the most dominant of the Asian nations in qualification, losing one of their 16 games across the two phases, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia secured of a third consecutive World Cup berth by topping a manageable qualifying section, picking up 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as defensive as certain previous Tunisian teams; they had a staggering 14 separate goalscorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the UEFA 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 executed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Group G

The Belgian Red Devils and Egypt are emerging from the shadow of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualification, scoring the net eight times but conceding five in two wins over Wales, finding goals freely 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 reach the finals during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully fulfilled their potential on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defence that conceded just twice in 10 games that meant they qualified undefeated.

A guaranteed place for Oceania effectively equated to a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who cruised through qualifying, winning five games out of five, netting 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 tricky third-round qualifying section, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially