🔗 Share this article

Wales' focus are firmly on the upcoming World Cup playoff draw as they prepare for learning their semifinal and potential final rivals.

Having ended second in their qualifying group following a dominant 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – Wales will play the semi-final match on home soil.

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

Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw thinks the Welsh squad will welcome a match against whichever team after their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mentality is 'bring on anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw said.

"A lot of people were wondering last night, 'do we really want Ireland because of that derby atmosphere?'. I think a number of people were hesitant. But personally, that would be incredible.

"It's one of those, indeed, we're ready for Kosovo or Bosnia and Albania are not bad and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they're a very good team so they'll be difficult.

"But the sense is that we're prepared for anybody at the moment and we're confident, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Potential Play-off Semifinal Opponents Evaluated

The Welsh squad are placed thirty-fourth in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side 84th.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a strong qualification run, with their only defeats suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed maximum points without conceding a single goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's more notable names, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their scoring tally in qualifying with 3 goals.

It is worth noting, Albania have never qualified for a World Cup, though they participated at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, not managing to reach the last 16 on both times.

As Slovenia and Sweden had torrid runs, with each failing to win a qualifying match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland finished the six-match campaign 3 points clear of the Kosovans, whose single loss was at the hands of the group winners.

The Kosovan squad feature ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic leading goalscorer – in a squad aiming for a maiden major tournament appearance.

They have not yet faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia lost just once in qualifying, and earned a point additional than Wales managed in their 8 games, but nonetheless finished two points behind of their group winners Austria.

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

The Welsh have failed to beat the Bosnian side in 4 attempts but experienced a unforgettable defeat against the Dragons as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

Being his nation's all-time top goalscorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's star player.

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

And finally, we have Ireland.

After secured only a single point from their opening 3 qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the playoffs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott netted both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to take second spot in Group F in thrilling style.

Talisman Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his side's revival while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting jersey his own.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their past 4 encounters with Wales, defeated in three of these, though James McClean broke the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.