🔗 Share this article

The team's sights are firmly on Thursday's World Cup playoff fixture as they await discovering their semifinal and potential final opponents.

Having finished second in their qualification pool following a commanding 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – Wales will host the semifinal encounter on home soil.

They will face either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo or Ireland in that match on 26 March.

Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw thinks the Welsh squad will welcome a match against any opponent after their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

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

"Many supporters were wondering last night, 'do we really want Republic of Ireland because of that derby atmosphere?'. In my view many supporters were hesitant. But personally, that could be amazing.

"It's that type of situation, indeed, we're ready for Kosovo or the Bosnians and the Albanians are competitive and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they are a very good team so it will be challenging.

"However the sense is that we're prepared for anyone right now and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semifinal Opponents Reviewed

Wales sit 34th in the world rankings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia 75th and the Kosovan side 84th.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a strong qualification campaign, with their only losses coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured maximum points without allowing a solitary goal.

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

Importantly, Albania have never earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, although they featured at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, failing to reach the last 16 on both times.

While Slovenia and Sweden endured difficult runs, with both not managing to win a qualifying match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Switzerland finished the six-match campaign three points clear of Kosovo, whose one defeat was at the hands of the pool winners.

The Kosovan squad feature former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic leading goalscorer – in a team aiming for a first international competition appearance.

They have never played the Welsh team.

Bosnia-Herzegovina lost just once in qualifying, and claimed a points additional than the Welsh achieved in their 8 games, but nonetheless finished 2 points behind of their group winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from securing a place at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians ensured the teams drew in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the pool.

The Welsh have not managed to defeat the Bosnians in four matches but did have a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

Being his country's all-time top goalscorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's key player.

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

Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.

After secured only a single point from their first 3 qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the play-offs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored 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 runner-up spot in Group F in dramatic style.

Key player Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his team's revival while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting jersey his to keep.

Ireland are winless in their past 4 meetings with the Welsh, losing 3 of these, although James McClean broke the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.