🔗 Share this article

Wales' attention are squarely on the upcoming World Cup playoff draw as they prepare for discovering their semi-final and possible final opponents.

Having finished as runners-up in their qualifying pool following a dominant 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – the side will host the semifinal match on home soil.

They will meet either the Albanian side, Bosnia, Kosovo or Republic of Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.

Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw feels the Dragons will relish a tie against any opponent following their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

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

"A lot of supporters were asking recently, 'do we really want Ireland because of that local feel?'. I think a number of people were hesitant. But for me, that could be fantastic.

"So it's that type of situation, indeed, we're ready for Kosovo or Bosnia and Albania are not bad and Ireland, naturally, they're a very good team so they'll be challenging.

"However you just feel that we'll take anyone right now and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Potential Playoff Semi-final Rivals Evaluated

Wales sit thirty-fourth in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side 84th.

Albania had a strong qualification campaign, with their only defeats coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured maximum points without conceding a solitary goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's more notable players, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their goal tally in qualifying with 3 goals.

Notably, Albania have never qualified for a World Cup, although they featured at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, failing to advance to the knockout stages on both times.

While Slovenia and Sweden endured poor runs, with each not managing to win a qualifying match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland ended the six-game campaign 3 points ahead of the Kosovans, whose single defeat was at the hands of the pool winners.

The Kosovan squad feature ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time top scorer – in a squad targeting a first major tournament appearance.

They have not yet faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia-Herzegovina lost just once in qualifying, and claimed a point additional than the Welsh managed in their 8 games, but nonetheless ended two points adrift of their group winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from securing a spot 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.

The Welsh have not managed to defeat the Bosnians in four matches but did have a unforgettable loss against the Dragons as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after losing.

Being his nation's all-time leading scorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player.

The veteran was his team's top scorer in the qualifiers with five goals.

And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.

After secured only a single point from their opening 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged 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 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 revival while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting jersey his to keep.

Ireland are without a win in their past 4 encounters with Wales, losing 3 of those, although James McClean broke the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.