🔗 Share this article

Wales' attention are firmly on the upcoming World Cup play-off fixture as they prepare for learning their semi-final and possible final challengers.

Having ended second in their qualification group thanks to a decisive 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – Wales will play the semi-final match on home soil.

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

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Dragons will welcome a match against any opponent following their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mindset is 'bring on whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw said.

"Many people were asking last night, 'do we really want Ireland because of that local feel?'. I think many people didn't. But for me, that could be incredible.

"It's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take the Kosovans or Bosnia and the Albanians are competitive and Ireland, naturally, they are a capable team so they'll be challenging.

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

Potential Play-off Semi-final Rivals Evaluated

The Welsh squad are placed 34th in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team 61st, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and Kosovo 84th.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a solid qualifying run, with their sole losses suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured full points without conceding a single goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's recognizable names, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their goal tally in qualifying with 3 goals.

It is worth noting, Albania have not yet earned a spot for a World Cup, although they participated at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, failing to reach the last 16 on each occasions.

While Slovenia and Sweden endured poor runs, with both failing to win a qualification match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland finished the six-game campaign three points clear of Kosovo, whose single defeat came at the hands of the group winners.

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

They have never played Wales.

Bosnia were defeated just once in the qualifiers, and claimed a point additional than the Welsh achieved in their 8 games, but nonetheless ended two points adrift of their group winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from securing a place at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians meant the pair drew in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.

Wales have not managed to beat the Bosnian side in 4 attempts but did have a memorable loss against Zmajevi as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

Being his country's all-time leading scorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's key player.

The veteran was his squad's top scorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.

Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.

After taken just one point from their first 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the play-offs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott netted both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to secure runner-up place in their group in dramatic fashion.

Key player Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his team's revival while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one jersey his to keep.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their past four encounters with the Welsh, losing 3 of these, although James McClean broke the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.