Section-by-Section Preview for the Upcoming Tournament

Pool A

The opening fixture at the iconic Azteca Stadium will replay the first game from 2010, when Bafana Bafana drew 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 were hosts in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be targeting a third-ever quarter-final berth as tournament hosts. The South African side, coached by veteran Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, qualified for their initial finals since they hosted, finishing above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a win over Lesotho given against them for using an ineligible player.

It will mark Korea Republic's 11th consecutive World Cup qualification. Icon Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and finished third in the Golden Ball award when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. Hong is now their manager and led them unbeaten through a anything but straightforward qualification group. The fourth team in Group A will be the winner of a UEFA qualifying play-off featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

Canada have qualified for the World Cup twice and, while Qatar 2022 brought their maiden finals goal, it did not deliver their first finals 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. How favorable the group appears depends largely on whether Italy progress through the European playoff (the remaining three 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 past five tournaments and were last-eight participants at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket without defeat from probably the most straightforward of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast players hoping to feature at their fourth World Cups. Qatar, having finished fourth in their third phase qualification group, were given a major boost by being chosen as a tournament host for the fourth phase and secured qualification with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is drawn entirely from the Qatari league.

Pool C

Scotland's return to the finals in 28 years bears a lot like their last appearance, when they lost to Brazil and the Atlas Lions; Haiti take the spot of Norway. Their aim will be to make it to the elimination stage for the first time after 8 prior group phase eliminations. Haiti’s only previous finals, in 1974, was notable less for their three losses than for the fate that befell 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 became Brazil’s third manager in a qualifying campaign that featured a streak of three successive defeats, but there is minimal risk in South American qualifying these days. He has overseen a clear upturn in form. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the best of the north African sides, capable both of dominating opponents and playing on the counter-attack, securing qualification with a 100% record.

Group D

Early last year, the United States seemed in a dismal condition, 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 apparently begun to get his ideas understood and in November the USA beat Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will start against the Paraguayan side, who are competing in their sixth World Cup. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has resulted to both group phase eliminations and a last-eight appearance. Their trademark defensive mindset has not changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australia side and their squad is without obvious superstars, but despite an iffy start to the third round of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side made it by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their final two fixtures. The group’s fourth team will come from the victor of Europe’s Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

After back-to-back group phase exits, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The shift to a more progressive philosophy has introduced a fragility and the draw initially looked like presenting a massive test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualifying, finishing in second place behind Argentina in South America. While they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline including Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, protected by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a paltry five.

Côte d’Ivoire exist in a state of constant declinism, where nothing is ever as good as the glorious generation of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Emerse Faé has proved transformative. Following an improbable continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualifying, scoring 25 goals without reply.

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

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side maybe lack the star quality of past Dutch generations, but they secured qualification without losing and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, always appears a more reliable player with his national side than at domestic level. They begin against the Japanese team, who will participate in their eighth consecutive finals, and were by some way the most dominant of the Asian nations in qualifying, losing one of their 16 games across the two groups, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side secured of a third consecutive finals appearance by dominating a straightforward qualifying section, picking up 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are perhaps not as defensive as some previous Tunisian teams; they had a staggering 14 separate goalscorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the UEFA playoff (against Ukraine in the semi-final, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will set up a repeat of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first executed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

The Belgian Red Devils 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, finding goals freely at times, but also laboring to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most decorated side in African history, but having not managed to reach the finals during their peak period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite done themselves justice on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defensive unit that conceded just twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified undefeated.

A reserved place for Oceania essentially equated to 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 booked their place in North America next summer. Iran, who lost once in a difficult third-round qualification section, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially