🔗 Share this article

Wales' sights are firmly on Thursday's World Cup play-off fixture as they prepare for discovering their semifinal and potential final rivals.

After finished as runners-up in their qualifying group thanks to a commanding 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – the side will host the semi-final encounter on home soil.

They will face either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Kosovan team or Republic of Ireland in that match on 26 March.

Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will relish a match against whichever team after their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mentality is 'bring on whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw commented.

"A lot of supporters were asking last night, 'should we actually want Republic of Ireland because of that local feel?'. I think a number of people didn't. But for me, that would be fantastic.

"So it's one of those, yes, we'll take the Kosovans or the Bosnians and Albania are not bad and Ireland, naturally, they're a strong team so it will be difficult.

"However the sense is that we'll take anybody right now and we're confident, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Potential Play-off Semifinal Opponents Evaluated

Wales are placed thirty-fourth in the FIFA standings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side 84th.

The Albanian national team had a impressive qualification run, with their sole defeats coming at the hands of their group winners England, who claimed maximum points without allowing a single goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's prominent players, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their goal chart in the qualifiers with 3 goals.

It is worth noting, the Albanians have never qualified for a FIFA World Cup, although they featured at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, not managing to reach the knockout stages on both times.

While Slovenia and Sweden had poor campaigns, with each failing to win a qualifying match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Swiss finished the six-game qualifiers 3 points ahead of the Kosovans, whose one defeat came at the hands of the pool winners.

The Kosovan squad feature ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic leading goalscorer – in a team aiming for a first international competition appearance.

They have not yet faced Wales.

Bosnia were defeated just once in qualifying, and earned a point more than Wales managed in their 8 games, but still finished two points behind of their group winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from clinching a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians meant the pair drew in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.

The Welsh have not managed to beat the Bosnians in four matches but did have a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

Being his nation's all-time top goalscorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's key player.

The veteran was his squad's leading goalscorer in the qualifiers with five goals.

And finally, we have Ireland.

After secured just one point from their opening three qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the play-offs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott netted the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to secure second place in Group F in thrilling style.

Key player Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his side's revival while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting jersey his to keep.

Ireland are without a win in their last 4 encounters with the Welsh, losing three of those, though James McClean broke the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.