Group-by-Group Preview for the Forthcoming Tournament

Pool A

The opening game at the historic Azteca Stadium will mirror the opener from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with El Tri. The Mexican team's elimination phase record at the worldwide showpiece includes just one win, secured against Bulgaria when they last were hosts in 1986. Their manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that squad and will be targeting a third last-eight berth as hosts. South Africa, coached by experienced Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first finals since hosting, ending above Nigeria and Benin even after having a victory over Lesotho awarded against them for using an ineligible player.

It will represent South Korea's 11th successive World Cup appearance. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished in third place in the Best Player award when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. Hong is now their coach and led them without a loss through a anything but easy qualifying section. The fourth team in Group A will be the winner of a European qualifying play-off involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

The Canadian team have qualified for the World Cup twice and, while Qatar 2022 yielded their first goal, it did not deliver their first-ever point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of arguably the most talented squad in their nation's history, with stars like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How favorable the draw appears hinges mostly on whether Italy progress through the UEFA playoff (the remaining three contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have navigated the group stage in four of the last five tournaments and were last-eight participants at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified unbeaten from arguably the most straightforward of the UEFA qualifying groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have individuals hoping to feature at their fourth World Cups. The Qatari team, having ended up fourth in their third-round qualification group, were given a significant boost by being chosen as a host for the fourth round and secured qualification with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected exclusively from the Qatari league.

Pool C

Scotland's return to the finals in 28 years bears a lot like their previous appearance, when they lost to the Seleção and Morocco; Haiti occupy the place of Norway. Their primary objective will be to make it to the elimination phase for the very first time after 8 prior group phase eliminations. Haiti’s sole prior finals, in 1974, was notable less for their three defeats than for the ordeal that befell midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a drugs test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have restricted away support due to travel restrictions involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third coach in a qualifying process that included a streak of three consecutive defeats, but there is little risk in South American qualification these days. He has presided over a noticeable upturn in form. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the strongest of the north African nations, able both of dominating opponents 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, suffering defeats to Panama and Canada in the Concacaf Nations League and to Turkey and Switzerland in friendlies. But over the last year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his message across 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 secured one game at each of the prior five, a statistic that has led to both group phase eliminations and a last-eight appearance. Their trademark cautious mindset hasn't altered: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most free-flowing 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 qualified by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their last two fixtures. The group’s fourth team will come from the winner of Europe’s Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following back-to-back group phase exits, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more attacking philosophy has brought a vulnerability and the draw initially looked like presenting a huge challenge to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualifying, ending up second 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, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a mere five.

Ivory Coast exist in a state of constant declinism, where nothing is ever as good as the golden generation of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. After an implausible continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualification, scoring 25 goals without none.

The smallest country ever to reach the finals, Curaçao, were the fourth team picked, however, making the group look a lot less daunting than it might have been.

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side perhaps do not possess the star quality of previous Dutch eras, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualification, consistently appears a more effective player with his national side than at domestic level. They begin against Japan, who will play in their 8th consecutive World Cup, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian nations in qualifying, suffering one of their 16 games across the two phases, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side made sure of a third straight World Cup berth by dominating a straightforward qualifying section, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are perhaps not as defensive as certain past Tunisian sides; they had a staggering 14 different scorers in qualifying. 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 create a repeat of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first executed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Group G

The Belgian Red Devils and the Pharaohs are moving on from the legacy 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, scoring freely at times, but also struggling to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most successful side in African history, but having failed to qualify 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 defence that conceded only twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified unbeaten.

A guaranteed place for Oceania essentially meant a spot at the finals for the All Whites, who sailed 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. Iran, who lost only once in a difficult third-round qualifying group, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly