🔗 Share this article

Wales' focus are squarely on the upcoming World Cup play-off fixture as they prepare for discovering their semifinal and potential final challengers.

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

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

Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw believes the Dragons will embrace a tie against any team after their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

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

"Many people were wondering recently, 'should we actually want Republic of Ireland as it's that local feel?'. I think many supporters didn't. But for me, that could be incredible.

"So it's that type of situation, yes, we'll take Kosovo or the Bosnians and the Albanians are competitive and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they are a very good team so they'll be tough.

"But the sense is that we'll take anybody at the moment and we're confident, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Possible Play-off Semi-final Rivals Assessed

The Welsh squad are placed thirty-fourth in the FIFA standings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side 84th.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a strong qualifying run, with their only losses coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed maximum points without conceding 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, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their scoring chart in the qualifiers with three goals.

Notably, the Albanians have not yet earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, although they featured at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, not managing to advance to the last 16 on both occasions.

While Slovenia and Sweden endured poor runs, with each failing to win a qualification match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.

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

Kosovo feature former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time leading goalscorer – in a team aiming for a maiden major tournament appearance.

They have not yet faced Wales.

Bosnia-Herzegovina lost just once in the qualifiers, and claimed a points additional than the Welsh achieved in their 8 games, but nonetheless ended two points adrift of Group H winners Austria.

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

Wales have failed to defeat the Bosnians in 4 matches but did have a unforgettable defeat against the Dragons as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

As his country's all-time leading scorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's standout player.

The veteran was his team's leading goalscorer in qualifying with 5 goals.

And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.

After taken only a single point from their opening three matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the playoffs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored the two goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a hat-trick – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to secure second spot in their group in dramatic style.

Key player Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his team's revival while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting jersey his to keep.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their last four meetings with Wales, losing three of these, though James McClean shattered the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.