🔗 Share this article

The team's attention are firmly on Thursday's World Cup playoff fixture as they prepare for discovering their semifinal and possible final challengers.

After ended second in their qualifying group thanks to a dominant 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – Wales will play the semifinal encounter on home soil.

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

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will embrace a tie against whichever team after their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

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

"A lot of supporters were wondering last night, 'should we really want Republic of Ireland as it's that local feel?'. I think many supporters were hesitant. But for me, that would be amazing.

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

"But the sense is that we're prepared for 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 sit thirty-fourth in the world standings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side 84th.

Albania had a strong qualifying run, with their sole losses suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured maximum points without conceding a solitary goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's more notable names, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their scoring chart in qualifying with three goals.

Notably, Albania have not yet qualified for a FIFA World Cup, though they participated at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, failing to advance to the last 16 on both times.

While Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid runs, with both failing to win a qualification match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland finished the six-game campaign three points ahead of the Kosovans, whose single loss came at the hands of the pool winners.

Kosovo include ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic leading goalscorer – in a team targeting a first international competition appearance.

They have not yet played the Welsh team.

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

They were a quarter of an hour away from clinching a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians ensured the teams tied in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.

Wales have failed to beat the Bosnian side in 4 attempts but did have a unforgettable loss against the Dragons as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite losing.

As his nation's historic leading scorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's key player.

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

Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.

After secured just one point from their first 3 qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the playoffs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

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

Key player Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his team's resurgence while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one position his to keep.

Ireland are winless in their past four meetings with the Welsh, defeated in three of those, though James McClean broke the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.