🔗 Share this article

The team's sights are firmly on the upcoming World Cup play-off fixture as they await discovering their semifinal and potential final opponents.

Having ended second in their qualifying group thanks to a dominant 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – Wales will host the semifinal match on their own turf.

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

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw believes the Welsh squad will embrace a tie against any opponent following their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his approach is 'give us anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw stated.

"Many supporters were saying last night, 'do we actually want Ireland as it's that derby feel?'. In my view a number of supporters were hesitant. But personally, that would be fantastic.

"So it's one of those, yes, we'll take Kosovo or Bosnia and Albania are decent and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they are a capable team so they'll be challenging.

"However the sense is that we'll take anyone right now and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semifinal Opponents Evaluated

Wales sit 34th in the world standings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and the Kosovan side 84th.

Albania enjoyed a strong qualification campaign, with their sole losses suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed full points without allowing 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 names, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led 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, not managing to reach the last 16 on both occasions.

While Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid runs, with each failing to win a qualification match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.

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

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

They have not yet played the Welsh team.

Bosnia lost just once in qualifying, and earned a point additional than Wales achieved in their eight games, but nonetheless ended 2 points adrift of Group H winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from clinching a place at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the teams drew in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.

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

Being his nation's all-time leading scorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's key player.

The 39-year-old was his team's leading goalscorer in qualifying with five goals.

Lastly, we have Ireland.

After taken only a single point from their first three matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the playoffs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott netted both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to secure runner-up spot in Group F in dramatic fashion.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his side's revival while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting position his own.

Ireland are winless in their last four meetings with the Welsh, defeated in three of those, although James McClean shattered the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.