🔗 Share this article

The team's attention are squarely on Thursday's World Cup play-off fixture as they await learning their semi-final and potential final opponents.

After finished as runners-up in their qualifying pool thanks to a decisive 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – the side will play the semi-final encounter on home soil.

They will meet either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.

Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw believes the Welsh squad will relish a tie against any opponent after their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mentality is 'give us whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw commented.

"Many fans were saying recently, 'do we really want Ireland as it's that derby feel?'. In my view a number of people didn't. But for me, that could be incredible.

"So it's that type of situation, yes, we're ready for Kosovo or Bosnia and Albania are competitive and Ireland, of course, they're a capable team so it will be difficult.

"But you just feel that we're prepared for anybody right now and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Possible Play-off Semi-final Opponents Evaluated

Wales sit thirty-fourth in the FIFA standings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side 84th.

Albania had a strong qualifying campaign, with their sole losses suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who claimed maximum points without allowing a single goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's prominent names, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their scoring chart in the qualifiers with three 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 last 16 on each occasions.

While Slovenia and Sweden had torrid runs, with each failing to win a qualifying match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

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

The Kosovan squad include ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time leading goalscorer – in a team targeting a maiden major tournament appearance.

They have never faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia-Herzegovina lost just once in qualifying, and earned a points additional than the Welsh managed in their eight games, but nonetheless finished two points behind of Group H winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from securing a place at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians ensured the teams tied in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the pool.

The Welsh have failed to defeat the Bosnians in four attempts but experienced a memorable loss against the Dragons as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

As his country's historic top goalscorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player.

The 39-year-old 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 first three qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the playoffs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging 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 thrilling fashion.

Key player Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his side's revival while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one position his own.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their past 4 encounters with Wales, losing 3 of those, though James McClean shattered the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.