Group-by-Group Breakdown for the Upcoming Finals

Pool A

The opening game at the iconic Azteca venue will echo the first game from 2010, when South Africa drew 1-1 with Mexico. The Mexican team's knockout stage history at the worldwide tournament includes just a single 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-ever quarter-final berth as hosts. The South African side, coached by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, qualified for their first finals since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite having a win over Lesotho given against them for fielding an suspended footballer.

This will mark Korea Republic's 11th consecutive finals appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and came third in the Best Player award when South Korea made the last four in 2002. Hong is now their coach and guided them unbeaten through a far from straightforward qualifying section. The final side in Group A will be the victor of a European qualifying play-off involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

The Canadian team have qualified for the World Cup on two occasions and, although Qatar 2022 brought their maiden finals goal, it did not deliver their first-ever finals point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of probably the most talented squad in their nation's history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How favorable the draw appears hinges largely on whether Italy make it through the UEFA play-off (the other three teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have got through the initial phase in four of the last five World Cups and were quarter-finalists at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket unbeaten from arguably the easiest of the UEFA groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast individuals aiming to play at their fourth World Cups. The Qatari team, having ended up in fourth in their third phase qualification section, were handed a major advantage by being selected as a host for the fourth phase and secured qualification with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected exclusively from the domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland's return to the World Cup in 28 years looks a lot like their last appearance, when they lost to the Seleção and the Atlas Lions; Haiti occupy the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the elimination stage for the very first time after eight previous group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s sole prior World Cup, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats than for the ordeal that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after testing positive in a drugs test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have limited traveling support due to travel restrictions involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third manager in a qualification campaign that featured a run of three successive losses, but there is little jeopardy in South American qualification these days. He has presided over a clear improvement. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the best of the north African sides, able both of dominating rivals and playing on the counter, qualifying with a 100% record.

Pool D

At the start of last year, the United States seemed in a dismal condition, 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 apparently begun to get his ideas understood and in November the USA beat Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will begin against the Paraguayan side, who are playing in their 6th finals. They have won one game at each of the prior five, a statistic that has resulted to both group phase exits and a quarter-final 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 free-flowing Australia side and their roster lacks obvious superstars, but despite an iffy beginning to the third round of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side made it by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their last two fixtures. The group’s fourth team will come from the victor of the European Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following back-to-back group-stage exits, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more progressive style has introduced a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like presenting a massive test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Ecuador were the revelations of qualifying, ending up second behind Argentina in South America. While they netted 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, let in a paltry five.

Ivory Coast exist in a state of permanent pessimism, where nothing is ever as good as the glorious squad of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Emerse Faé has proved transformative. After an improbable continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, netting 25 goals without none.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side maybe do not possess the star quality of previous Dutch generations, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualification, consistently looks a more reliable performer with his national side than at club level. They begin against the Japanese team, who will play in their 8th successive finals, and were by far the most dominant of the Asian nations in qualifying, suffering one of their 16 games across the two groups, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side made sure of a third straight World Cup appearance by topping a manageable qualification group, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as defensive as some previous Tunisian sides; they had a remarkable 14 separate goalscorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the European playoff (against Ukraine in the semi, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will create a repeat of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

The Belgian Red Devils and Egypt are emerging from the legacy of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualifying, finding the net eight times but letting in five in two wins over Wales, finding goals easily at times, but also struggling 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 quite 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 ensured they qualified undefeated.

A reserved place for Oceania essentially equated to a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who cruised through qualification, 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. Team Melli, who were defeated once in a difficult third-round qualifying section, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly