🔗 Share this article

Wales' sights are firmly on the upcoming World Cup play-off fixture as they prepare for discovering their semi-final and possible final opponents.

Having finished as runners-up in their qualification pool following a dominant 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – the side will play the semifinal match on home soil.

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

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw thinks the Dragons will welcome a tie against any team after their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his approach is 'bring on whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw stated.

"Many supporters were asking last night, 'do we really want Ireland because of that derby atmosphere?'. In my view many people were hesitant. But personally, that could be incredible.

"So it's that type of situation, yes, we'll take Kosovo or Bosnia and Albania are not bad and Ireland, naturally, they are a capable team so it will be challenging.

"But you just feel that we're prepared for anybody at the moment and we're confident, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Possible Play-off Semi-final Rivals Evaluated

The Welsh squad sit thirty-fourth in the world rankings, with Albania sixty-first, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and Kosovo eighty-fourth.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a strong qualification run, with their sole defeats suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who claimed maximum points without conceding a single goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's recognizable names, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their scoring tally in the qualifiers with 3 goals.

Importantly, Albania have not yet qualified for a World Cup, although they participated at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, failing to reach the knockout stages on both times.

As Slovenia and Sweden endured difficult runs, with both failing to win a qualification match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Switzerland ended the six-game qualifiers 3 points ahead of the Kosovans, whose single loss came at the hands of the group winners.

Kosovo include ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time leading goalscorer – in a squad targeting a maiden international competition appearance.

They have not yet played the Welsh team.

Bosnia-Herzegovina lost only one time in qualifying, and claimed a point additional than the Welsh managed in their eight games, but still finished two points behind of Group H winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from securing a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the pair drew in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.

Wales have not managed to defeat the Bosnians in 4 attempts but did have a memorable loss against Zmajevi as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite losing.

Being his country's historic top goalscorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player.

The 39-year-old was his team's top scorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.

And finally, we have Ireland.

After secured just one point from their first three qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the playoffs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott netted the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a hat-trick – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to secure runner-up spot in Group F in dramatic style.

Key player Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his team's resurgence while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one jersey his to keep.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their last 4 meetings with Wales, losing 3 of those, though James McClean broke the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.