Team-by-Team Analysis for the Forthcoming Tournament

Pool A

This first match at the famous Azteca Stadium will replay the opener from 2010, when Bafana Bafana tied 1-1 with Mexico. The Mexican team's knockout stage record at the worldwide showpiece features just one victory, achieved against Bulgaria when they previously were hosts in 1986. The manager, Javier Aguirre, played as an attacker in that squad and will be aiming for a third-ever quarter-final appearance as hosts. South Africa, led by experienced Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, qualified for their first World Cup since hosting, ending above Nigeria and Benin despite having a win over Lesotho awarded against them for using an suspended footballer.

It will represent Korea Republic's 11th successive finals qualification. Icon Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and finished third in the Golden Ball award when South Korea made the semi-final in 2002. Hong is now their coach and led them without a loss through a far from easy qualification group. The final team in Group A will be the winner of a European playoff featuring the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Group B

Canada have qualified for the global finals twice and, while Qatar 2022 yielded their first goal, it did not deliver their first-ever finals point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of arguably the most talented group of players in their history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. How kind the group looks hinges largely on whether Italy make it through the UEFA playoff (the other three teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

After failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, Switzerland have navigated the group stage in four of the last five World Cups and were quarter-finalists at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side qualified unbeaten from arguably the most straightforward of the UEFA groups and, with experienced campaigners like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, boast individuals hoping to play at their fourth World Cups. Qatar, having finished in fourth in their third-round qualification group, were handed a major boost by being chosen as a tournament host for the final phase and secured progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s squad is drawn entirely from the domestic league.

Group C

Scotland return to the World Cup in 28 years looks a lot like their previous outing, when they were defeated to Brazil and the Atlas Lions; the Haitian team take the spot of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the elimination stage for the very first time after 8 previous group phase exits. Haiti’s sole prior World Cup, in 1974, was remembered 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 sent back. They will have limited traveling support due to travel restrictions from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third manager in a qualifying campaign that included a run of three successive losses, but there is minimal jeopardy in South American qualification these days. He has presided over a noticeable improvement. Last-four participants in Qatar in 2022, Morocco appear the strongest of the north African sides, capable both of overwhelming opponents and playing on the counter-attack, securing qualification with a perfect record.

Group D

Early last year, the USA seemed in a poor condition, suffering defeats to Panama and Canada in the Concacaf Nations League and to Turkey and Switzerland in friendly matches. But over the past year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his ideas across and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before routing Uruguay 5-1 in exhibition games. They will start against the Paraguayan side, who are playing in their 6th finals. They have secured one game at each of the prior five, a record that has resulted to both group phase exits and a quarter-final appearance. Their trademark cautious mindset has not altered: they managed only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualifying.

This is not the most fluent Australian team and their roster is without obvious stars, but in spite of an shaky 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 last two fixtures. The group’s final team will emerge from the winner of the European Play-off C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Pool E

Following successive group-stage eliminations, Die Mannschaft are no longer the feared force of old. The shift to a more attacking philosophy has introduced a fragility and the draw initially looked like presenting a huge test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the surprise package of qualification, ending up in second place behind Argentina in South America. Although they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a backline featuring Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, protected by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, conceded a paltry five.

Ivory Coast exist in a state of constant declinism, where nothing is ever quite 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 improbable continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were ruthless in qualifying, scoring 25 goals and conceding reply.

The tiniest country ever to reach the finals, Curaçao, were the final team drawn, however, making the group look a lot far less intimidating than it could have been.

Group F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side perhaps lack the galacticos of previous Dutch generations, but they qualified unbeaten and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, always looks a more effective player with his national side than at club level. They begin against the Japanese team, who will participate in their 8th consecutive World Cup, and were by far the most dominant of the Asian nations in qualification, suffering one of their 16 games across the two phases, with a combined goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia made sure of a third consecutive finals berth by dominating a manageable qualification section, picking up 28 points of a available 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are maybe not as dour as certain previous Tunisian teams; they had a staggering 14 different scorers in qualification. 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 stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the famous Cruyff Turn.

Group G

The Belgian Red Devils and Egypt are moving on from the legacy of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were erratic in qualifying, scoring the net eight times but conceding five in two wins over Wales, scoring freely 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 done themselves justice on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defence 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 New Zealand, who sailed through qualifying, 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. Iran, who lost once in a difficult third phase qualification section, are on a list of restricted nations, potentially