🔗 Share this article

Wales' sights are firmly on the upcoming World Cup playoff fixture as they prepare for discovering their semi-final and potential final challengers.

Having finished second in their qualifying pool thanks to a decisive 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – Wales will host the semifinal match on their own turf.

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

Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw believes the Welsh squad will welcome a tie against any team after their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mindset is 'give us whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw stated.

"A lot of supporters were saying recently, 'should we really want Republic of Ireland as it's that local feel?'. In my view a number of supporters were hesitant. But personally, that could be incredible.

"So it's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take the Kosovans or the Bosnians and Albania are not bad and Republic of Ireland, of course, they are a capable team so it will be difficult.

"But the sense is that we're prepared for anyone at the moment and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semifinal Opponents Assessed

Wales are placed thirty-fourth in the world rankings, with Albania 61st, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia seventy-fifth and Kosovo 84th.

Albania enjoyed a impressive qualifying run, with their only losses suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured maximum points without allowing a solitary goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's prominent players, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their scoring chart in the qualifiers with 3 goals.

Importantly, the Albanians have never qualified for a FIFA World Cup, though they participated at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, not managing to reach the knockout stages on each occasions.

While Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid runs, with each not managing to win a qualification match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.

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

Kosovo feature ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time top scorer – in a squad aiming for a first international competition appearance.

They have not yet faced Wales.

Bosnia-Herzegovina lost just once in qualifying, and earned a points additional than the Welsh managed in their 8 games, but still finished 2 points behind of their group winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from clinching a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians ensured the teams tied in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.

Wales have failed to beat the Bosnians in 4 matches but experienced a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

Being his nation's all-time leading scorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's key player.

The 39-year-old was his squad's top scorer in qualifying with 5 goals.

And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.

Having secured just one point from their first 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the playoffs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to secure second spot in their group in thrilling style.

Key player Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his side's resurgence while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting position his to keep.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their last four encounters with Wales, losing 3 of those, although James McClean broke the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.