🔗 Share this article

The team's sights are firmly on Thursday's World Cup play-off fixture as they prepare for learning their semifinal and possible final challengers.

After finished second in their qualification pool thanks to a dominant 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – the side will host the semifinal match on their own turf.

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

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

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

"A lot of fans were asking recently, 'do we really want Ireland because of that derby feel?'. In my view many supporters didn't. But personally, that could be incredible.

"It's one of those, indeed, we're ready for the Kosovans or the Bosnians and the Albanians are not bad and Ireland, naturally, they're a very good team so they'll be tough.

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

Possible Playoff Semi-final Rivals Reviewed

Wales are placed thirty-fourth in the FIFA standings, with the Albanian team 61st, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side 84th.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a solid qualifying run, with their sole defeats coming at the hands of their group winners England, who secured maximum points without allowing a single goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's recognizable players, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their scoring chart in qualifying with 3 goals.

Notably, Albania have not yet 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 torrid runs, with both failing to win a qualification match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

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

The Kosovan squad include former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time leading goalscorer – in a squad targeting a maiden major tournament appearance.

They have never faced Wales.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated only one time in qualifying, and claimed a points more than the Welsh managed in their eight games, but nonetheless ended 2 points behind of their group winners Austria.

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

The Welsh have failed to defeat the Bosnians in 4 matches but did have a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite losing.

As his country's historic leading scorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's key player.

The 39-year-old was his team's top scorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.

And finally, we have Ireland.

Having taken only a single point from their opening three qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the playoffs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott netted the two goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to take second place in their group in dramatic fashion.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his team's resurgence while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting position his own.

The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their last four meetings with Wales, losing 3 of these, although James McClean shattered the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.