Group-by-Group Analysis for the Upcoming Tournament

Group A

This opening fixture at the historic Azteca Stadium will echo the opener from 2010, when Bafana Bafana drew 1-1 with Mexico. Mexico's elimination stage record at the worldwide tournament features just a single win, achieved against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. Their manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be targeting a third-ever quarter-final berth as hosts. The South African side, coached by experienced Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, qualified for their first World Cup since they hosted, finishing above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a win over Lesotho given against them for fielding an suspended player.

It will mark South Korea's eleventh successive World Cup qualification. Icon Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and came third in the Golden Ball award when South Korea reached the semi-final in 2002. He is now their coach and led them unbeaten through a far from straightforward qualification section. The fourth side in Group A will be the victor of a UEFA qualifying play-off featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

Canada have qualified for the global finals on two occasions and, although Qatar 2022 yielded their maiden finals goal, it did not bring their first point. Jesse Marsch is the manager of probably the most talented group of players in their nation's history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which favorable the group looks hinges mostly on whether the Italian national team make it through the UEFA playoff (the remaining 3 contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have got through the initial phase in four of the last five tournaments and were quarter-finalists at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket without defeat from probably the easiest of the UEFA qualifying 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 group, were given a significant boost by being selected as a tournament host for the final phase and clinched qualification with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected entirely from the Qatari league.

Pool C

Scotland's first finals in 28 years looks a lot like their previous outing, when they were defeated to the Seleção and the Atlas Lions; the Haitian team occupy the place of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the elimination phase for the very first time after eight prior group phase eliminations. Haiti’s only previous World Cup, in 1974, was remembered less for their three losses than for the fate 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 restricted away support due to a travel ban from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third coach in a qualification campaign that featured a streak of three consecutive defeats, 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 best of the north African sides, able both of dominating rivals and playing on the counter-attack, securing qualification with a 100% record.

Pool D

At the start of last year, the United States seemed in a dismal state, 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 message across and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will start against Paraguay, who are competing in their 6th finals. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has resulted to both group-stage eliminations and a quarter-final place. Their familiar defensive approach hasn't changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most fluent Australian side and their squad is without clear superstars, but despite an iffy beginning to the third round of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under intense pressure in their final two fixtures. The pool's final team will come from the winner of Europe’s Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

After successive group-stage eliminations, Die Mannschaft are no longer the feared force of old. The shift to a more attacking style has introduced a fragility and the group initially looked like posing a huge challenge 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 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.

Côte d’Ivoire live in a state of permanent pessimism, where nothing is ever as good as the golden squad of 15-20 years ago. But since taking charge 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 clinical in qualification, scoring 25 goals without none.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe lack the star quality of previous Dutch generations, but they secured qualification unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualification, consistently looks a more effective player with his country's side than at club level. They begin against the Japanese team, who will participate in their eighth consecutive World Cup, and were by far the most impressive of the Asian sides in qualification, losing one of their 16 games over the two groups, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side secured of a third consecutive World Cup appearance by dominating a manageable qualifying section, picking up 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are maybe not as dour as certain past Tunisian teams; they had a remarkable 14 separate scorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the European playoff (against Ukraine in the semi-final, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will set up a rematch of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Group G

Belgium and Egypt are moving on from the shadow of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, scoring the net eight times but letting in five in two wins over Wales, scoring easily 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 peak 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 defensive unit that allowed only twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified undefeated.

A reserved place for Oceania effectively equated to a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who sailed through qualification, winning five games out of five, scoring 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. Team Melli, who lost once in a difficult third phase qualifying section, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially