Group-by-Group Preview for the Upcoming Finals

Pool A

This opening match at the famous Azteca Stadium will echo the first game from 2010, when South Africa drew 1-1 with Mexico. Mexico's knockout phase record at the worldwide showpiece features just a single win, secured against Bulgaria when they last hosted in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that squad and will be aiming for a third last-eight berth as tournament hosts. South Africa, led by veteran Belgian manager Hugo Broos, qualified for their first finals since they hosted, ending above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a victory over Lesotho awarded against them for fielding an suspended footballer.

This will mark South Korea's 11th straight World Cup appearance. Legend Hong Myung-bo played in four of those, and finished in third place in the Best Player voting when South Korea reached the last four in 2002. He is now their manager and guided them unbeaten through a anything but easy qualifying group. The fourth side in Group A will be the victor of a European playoff involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

Canada have qualified for the global finals twice and, although Qatar 2022 brought their maiden finals goal, it did not bring their first point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of arguably the most talented squad in their history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How kind the group appears depends largely on whether the Italian national team make it through the UEFA play-off (the other 3 contenders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have navigated the initial phase in four of the past five World Cups and were quarter-finalists at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket unbeaten from probably the most straightforward of the UEFA groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players aiming to feature at their fourth World Cups. The Qatari team, having ended up in fourth in their third phase qualification group, were given a major boost by being chosen as a host for the fourth round and secured progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected entirely from the domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland return to the World Cup in 28 years bears a lot like their last appearance, when they were defeated to the Seleção and the Atlas Lions; Haiti occupy the spot of Norway. Their primary objective will be to progress to the knockout stage for the first time after 8 previous group phase exits. Haiti’s sole prior finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three defeats than for the ordeal that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a doping test, was beaten by Haitian army officers before being sent back. They will have limited traveling support due to a travel ban involving the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti became Brazil’s third manager in a qualification campaign that included a run of three successive losses, 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 appear the best of the north African nations, able both of overwhelming rivals and playing on the counter, securing qualification with a 100% win record.

Pool D

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 friendlies. But over the past year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his ideas understood and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will start against Paraguay, who are playing in their 6th finals. They have won one game at each of the prior five, a record that has led to both group phase eliminations and a last-eight place. Their trademark defensive approach has not changed: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most free-flowing Australian team and their squad lacks clear superstars, but in spite of an shaky start to the third phase of Asian qualification, Tony Popovic’s side made it 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 the European Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

Following back-to-back group-stage eliminations, Germany are no longer the feared force of old. The shift to a more progressive style has brought a vulnerability and the group initially looked like posing a massive test 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 paltry five.

Ivory Coast exist in a state of constant pessimism, where nothing is ever quite good as the glorious generation of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved inspirational. Following an improbable continental success on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, netting 25 goals without reply.

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

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe lack the star quality of previous Dutch generations, but they secured qualification without losing and Memphis Depay, who bagged eight goals in qualification, always looks a more reliable performer with his national side than at club level. They begin against Japan, who will participate in their 8th consecutive finals, and were by some way the most dominant of the Asian nations in qualifying, losing one of their 16 games across the two groups, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia secured of a third straight World Cup appearance by topping a manageable qualifying section, picking up 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s team are perhaps not as defensive as certain previous Tunisian teams; they had a remarkable 14 separate scorers in qualification. If Graham Potter’s Sweden progress through the European 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 performed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

The Belgian Red Devils and the Pharaohs are moving on from the shadow of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualification, finding the net eight times but letting in 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 decorated side in African football 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 world stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defensive unit that conceded just twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified unbeaten.

A guaranteed place for Oceania effectively meant a spot at the finals for New Zealand, who cruised through qualification, 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 were defeated once in a difficult third-round qualifying group, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially