🔗 Share this article

Wales' sights are squarely on the upcoming World Cup play-off fixture as they await learning their semi-final and possible final rivals.

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

They will face either the Albanian side, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo or Republic of Ireland in that match on 26 March.

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw thinks the Dragons will welcome a match against whichever opponent after their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mindset is 'give us anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw stated.

"Many people were wondering last night, 'do we really want Republic of Ireland as it's that derby feel?'. I think many supporters didn't. But for me, that could be amazing.

"It's one of those, indeed, we'll take Kosovo or Bosnia and the Albanians are not bad and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they are a very good team so it will be tough.

"However you just feel that we're prepared for anyone right now and it doesn't matter, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Potential Playoff Semifinal Rivals Assessed

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

The Albanian national team had a impressive qualification campaign, with their only defeats suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who claimed full points without allowing a solitary goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's more notable names, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their goal tally in qualifying with 3 goals.

It is worth noting, the Albanians have never qualified for a World Cup, though they participated at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, not managing to reach the knockout stages on both occasions.

While Slovenia and Sweden had difficult campaigns, with both failing to win a qualification match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Swiss ended the six-game campaign 3 points clear of Kosovo, whose one defeat came at the hands of the group winners.

Kosovo include ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time top scorer – in a squad targeting a maiden major tournament appearance.

They have not yet played Wales.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated just once in the qualifiers, and earned a point additional than Wales managed in their eight games, but nonetheless finished two points adrift of their group winners Austria.

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

The Welsh have not managed to beat the Bosnians in 4 attempts but experienced a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after losing.

Being his nation's all-time leading scorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's standout player.

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

Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.

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

Troy Parrott scored the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to take second spot in their group in dramatic fashion.

Key player Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his side's revival while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one jersey his own.

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