The first game at the historic Azteca venue will replay the opener from 2010, when South Africa drew 1-1 with Mexico. Mexico's knockout stage record at the global showpiece features just one win, secured against Bulgaria when they previously hosted in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be targeting a third quarter-final appearance as tournament hosts. South Africa, coached by experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first World Cup since they hosted, ending above Nigeria and Benin even after seeing a win over Lesotho given against them for using an suspended footballer.
It will mark Korea Republic's eleventh consecutive finals qualification. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished third in the Best Player award when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. Hong is now their manager and guided them unbeaten through a anything but easy qualification group. The fourth team in Group A will be the victor of a European playoff featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.
The Canadian team have made it for the World Cup twice and, while Qatar 2022 brought their first finals goal, it did not deliver their first-ever point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of arguably the best squad in their nation's history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How kind the group appears hinges mostly on whether the Italian national team make it through the European play-off (the remaining 3 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 last five World Cups 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 groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have individuals aiming to feature at their fourth finals. The Qatari team, having finished in fourth in their third-round qualification group, were given a major advantage by being chosen as a tournament host for the final round and clinched progress with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected entirely from the domestic league.
Scotland return to the finals in 28 years looks a lot like their previous outing, when they were defeated to the Seleção and Morocco; Haiti occupy the spot of Norway. Their aim will be to make it to the elimination phase for the very first time after 8 previous group-stage exits. Haiti’s only prior finals, in 1974, was notable less for their three losses 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 deported. They will have limited traveling support due to travel restrictions from the USA.
Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third coach in a qualifying process that included a run of three consecutive defeats, but there is little jeopardy in South American qualifying these days. He has presided over a noticeable upturn in form. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the strongest of the north African sides, able both of dominating rivals and playing on the counter-attack, qualifying with a perfect win record.
At the start of last year, the United States seemed in a poor state, 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 seemingly begun to get his message across and in November the USA beat Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will begin against Paraguay, who are playing in their sixth World Cup. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has led to both group phase eliminations and a quarter-final appearance. Their trademark defensive approach hasn't altered: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.
This is not the most free-flowing Australian side and their squad is without obvious superstars, but in spite of an shaky start to the third phase of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by defeating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their last two fixtures. The pool's fourth team will emerge from the victor of Europe’s Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).
After back-to-back group-stage exits, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more attacking philosophy has introduced a vulnerability and the group initially looked like posing a huge test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualification, finishing second behind Argentina in South America. While they netted only 14 goals in 18 games, a defence 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 live in a state of constant pessimism, where nothing is ever as successful as the glorious squad of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Emerse Faé has proved transformative. After an improbable continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, scoring 25 goals and conceding none.
The smallest country ever to qualify, the Curaçao team, were the fourth team drawn, though, making the group look a lot less intimidating than it might have been.
Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side perhaps do not possess the star quality of past Dutch generations, but they secured qualification unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualifying, always appears a more effective performer with his national side than at domestic level. They begin against the Japanese team, who will play in their eighth successive World Cup, and were by far the most dominant of the Asian sides in qualification, suffering one of their 16 games over the two phases, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.
The Tunisian side made sure of a third straight World Cup appearance by dominating a straightforward qualifying section, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as dour as certain past Tunisian teams; they had a remarkable 14 different goalscorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the UEFA play-off (against Ukraine in the semi, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will create a rematch of the group game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the famous Cruyff Turn.
Belgium and Egypt are emerging from the shadow of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualification, finding the net eight times but conceding 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 football history, but having failed to reach the finals during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite done themselves justice on the world stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them attacking threat, 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, scoring 29 goals, nine of them by Chris Wood, but they are the lowest FIFA-ranked side to have secured their place in North America next summer. Iran, who were defeated only once in a tricky third phase qualifying group, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly
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