🔗 Share this article

The team's attention are squarely on Thursday's World Cup play-off fixture as they prepare for discovering their semifinal and possible final opponents.

Having finished second in their qualifying group thanks to a dominant 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – Wales will play the semi-final encounter on home soil.

They will meet either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will relish a tie against whichever opponent after their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his approach is 'bring on whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw stated.

"Many people were saying last night, 'should we actually want Ireland as it's that derby feel?'. In my view many people were hesitant. But for me, that would be incredible.

"So it's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take the Kosovans or the Bosnians and Albania are competitive and Ireland, of course, they're a capable team so they'll be difficult.

"But the sense is that we'll take anyone right now and it doesn't matter, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Potential Playoff Semifinal Opponents Reviewed

The Welsh squad are placed thirty-fourth in the world standings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia seventy-fifth and Kosovo eighty-fourth.

The Albanian national team had a impressive qualification campaign, with their sole losses coming at the hands of their group winners England, who secured full points without allowing a solitary goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's prominent names, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their scoring tally in the qualifiers with three goals.

It is worth noting, the Albanians have never earned a spot for a World Cup, though they featured at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, failing to advance to the knockout stages on both occasions.

While Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid runs, with both failing to win a qualifying match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Switzerland ended the six-game campaign three points clear of the Kosovans, whose single defeat was at the hands of the pool winners.

The Kosovan squad include ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic leading goalscorer – in a team targeting a maiden international competition appearance.

They have never played Wales.

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

They were 13 minutes away from securing a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians ensured the pair tied in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.

The Welsh have failed to defeat the Bosnian side in 4 attempts but did have a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after losing.

Being his country's historic leading scorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player.

The 39-year-old was his team's top scorer in qualifying with five goals.

Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.

Having taken just one point from their opening 3 qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the play-offs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to take runner-up spot in their group in thrilling fashion.

Key player Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his team's revival while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one position his to keep.

Ireland are winless in their last four encounters with the Welsh, losing 3 of those, though James McClean broke the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.