🔗 Share this article

Wales' attention are firmly on Thursday's World Cup playoff draw as they prepare for discovering their semifinal and possible final opponents.

After ended second in their qualification group thanks to a decisive 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – Wales will host the semi-final match on home soil.

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

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw believes the Dragons will relish a tie against whichever team after their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

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

"A lot of people were saying last night, 'do we really want Ireland because of that local atmosphere?'. In my view many people didn't. But for me, that could be amazing.

"So it's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take the Kosovans or Bosnia and Albania are competitive and Republic of Ireland, of course, they're a strong team so it will be tough.

"However you just feel that we're prepared for anybody right now and we're confident, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semifinal Rivals Evaluated

The Welsh squad sit thirty-fourth in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and Kosovo eighty-fourth.

Albania enjoyed a solid qualifying run, with their sole defeats suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed full points without allowing a solitary goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's recognizable players, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their scoring chart in the qualifiers with 3 goals.

Notably, Albania have never qualified for a FIFA World Cup, although they participated at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, failing to advance to the knockout stages on both occasions.

While Slovenia and Sweden had difficult runs, with each failing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland finished the six-match qualifiers three points ahead of Kosovo, whose single defeat came at the hands of the pool winners.

The Kosovan squad include former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time leading goalscorer – in a squad aiming for a first major tournament appearance.

They have never faced Wales.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated only one time in the qualifiers, and earned a point more than Wales managed in their 8 games, but nonetheless ended 2 points adrift of Group H winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from clinching a place at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians meant the teams tied in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.

Wales have not managed to beat the Bosnian side in four attempts but did have a unforgettable loss against the Dragons as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after losing.

As his country's historic top goalscorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's standout player.

The veteran was his squad's leading goalscorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.

And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.

After secured only a single point from their opening three matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the play-offs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott netted the two goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to take second spot in their group in thrilling style.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his team's resurgence while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one jersey his own.

Ireland are without a win in their last 4 meetings with the Welsh, defeated in 3 of those, though James McClean shattered the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.