Section-by-Section Preview for the Upcoming Finals

Group A

This opening game at the historic Azteca venue will replay the opener from 2010, when Bafana Bafana drew 1-1 with Mexico. Mexico's knockout stage record at the global showpiece includes just one win, achieved against Bulgaria when they last were hosts in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be targeting a third quarter-final berth as hosts. The South African side, led by veteran Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, qualified for their first World Cup since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite having a win over Lesotho given against them for fielding an ineligible footballer.

This will represent Korea Republic's eleventh straight World Cup qualification. Legend Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and finished in third place in the Golden Ball voting when South Korea made the semi-final in 2002. He is now their manager and led them without a loss through a anything but straightforward qualifying group. The final side in Group A will be the winner of a European playoff involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

Canada have made it for the World Cup on two occasions 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 kind the group looks hinges largely on whether Italy progress through the UEFA playoff (the other 3 contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have navigated the initial phase in four of the last five tournaments and were last-eight participants at the last two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified unbeaten from arguably the most straightforward of the UEFA groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have individuals hoping to feature at their fourth World Cups. The Qatari team, having finished fourth in their third phase qualification group, were handed a major advantage by being selected as a host for the fourth round and secured progress with a 2-1 victory over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected entirely from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland's first World Cup in 28 years looks a lot like their last outing, when they lost to the Seleção and Morocco; Haiti take the place of Norway. Their aim will be to make it to the elimination stage for the very first time after 8 previous group phase eliminations. Haiti’s sole prior World Cup, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats than for the fate 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 a travel ban involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third coach in a qualifying campaign that included a run of three successive defeats, but there is minimal risk in South American qualifying these days. He has overseen a noticeable upturn in form. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the strongest of the north African sides, able both of dominating opponents and playing on the counter-attack, securing qualification with a perfect win record.

Pool D

Early last year, the United States seemed in a poor condition, losing to Panama and Canada in the Concacaf Nations League and to Turkey and Switzerland in friendlies. But over the last year, Mauricio Pochettino has apparently begun to get his message understood and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will begin against Paraguay, who are playing in their 6th finals. They have secured one game at each of the previous five, a statistic that has resulted to both group phase exits and a quarter-final place. Their familiar cautious mindset 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 clear stars, but in spite of an iffy beginning to the third round of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their final two matches. The pool's final team will emerge from the victor of the European playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

After back-to-back group phase eliminations, Die Mannschaft are no longer the bogeymen of old. The transition to a more attacking style has introduced a fragility 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 defence including Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, shielded by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, let in a mere five.

Ivory Coast exist in a state of constant 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, manager Emerse Faé has proved transformative. Following an implausible continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualification, scoring 25 goals and conceding none.

The smallest country ever to reach the finals, the Curaçao team, were the fourth team drawn, though, making the group look a lot far less daunting than it could have appeared.

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side perhaps do not possess the galacticos of past Dutch eras, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualification, consistently appears a more reliable player with his country's side than at club 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 qualifying, losing one of their 16 games across the two phases, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

The Tunisian side made sure of a third consecutive World Cup appearance by dominating a manageable qualifying section, accumulating 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as dour as some previous Tunisian teams; they had a remarkable 14 separate scorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the UEFA play-off (against Ukraine in the semi-final, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will set up a rematch of the group stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Group G

Belgium and the Pharaohs are moving on from the shadow of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualifying, finding the net eight times but conceding 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 football history, but having failed to qualify during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never fully fulfilled their potential on the world stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defensive unit that allowed just twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified undefeated.

A reserved place for Oceania effectively meant a spot at the finals for the All Whites, 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 secured their place in North America next summer. Iran, who were defeated only once in a tricky third phase qualifying section, are on a list of restricted nations, possibly