🔗 Share this article

The team's focus are firmly on Thursday's World Cup playoff fixture as they await learning their semi-final and possible final rivals.

Having ended second in their qualifying pool following a dominant 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – Wales will host the semi-final encounter on their own turf.

They will play against either Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo or Ireland in that match on 26 March.

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

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mentality is 'bring on whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw stated.

"Many people were wondering last night, 'should we really want Republic of Ireland as it's that derby feel?'. In my view a number of supporters didn't. But for me, that would be amazing.

"So it's that type of situation, yes, we'll take Kosovo or Bosnia and Albania are not bad and Ireland, naturally, they're a capable team so it will be challenging.

"However the sense is that we're prepared for anybody right now and we're confident, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Potential Playoff Semifinal Rivals Evaluated

Wales are placed thirty-fourth in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and Kosovo eighty-fourth.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a impressive qualifying campaign, with their only defeats suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who secured full points without allowing a solitary goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's more notable players, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their scoring tally in qualifying with three goals.

It is worth noting, Albania have not yet earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, though they participated at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, failing to advance to the last 16 on each times.

As Slovenia and Sweden had difficult campaigns, with each failing to win a qualification match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Swiss ended the six-game qualifiers three points clear of the Kosovans, whose single loss came at the hands of the group winners.

The Kosovan squad include former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time leading goalscorer – in a team targeting a maiden international competition appearance.

They have not yet played the Welsh team.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated just once in qualifying, and claimed a points more than the Welsh managed in their 8 games, but nonetheless finished 2 points behind of Group H winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from securing a place at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians ensured the pair tied in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.

Wales have not managed to defeat the Bosnian side in four matches but did have a memorable defeat against Zmajevi as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

Being his country's historic top goalscorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's star player.

The veteran was his team's leading goalscorer in qualifying with five goals.

Lastly, we have Ireland.

Having taken only a single point from their first 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the playoffs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a hat-trick – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to take runner-up place in Group F in thrilling fashion.

Key player Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his team's resurgence while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one position his own.

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