🔗 Share this article

Wales' attention are squarely on Thursday's World Cup play-off draw as they await discovering their semi-final and possible final challengers.

After finished second in their qualification group following a dominant 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – Wales will host the semifinal match on their own turf.

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

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Dragons will embrace a tie against whichever team after their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

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

"Many people were asking recently, 'do we actually want Republic of Ireland because of that local atmosphere?'. I think many people didn't. But for me, that could be fantastic.

"It's one of those, yes, we're ready for the Kosovans or the Bosnians and Albania are decent and Ireland, of course, they are a capable team so it will be challenging.

"However the sense is that we'll take anybody right now and we're confident, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Possible Play-off Semi-final Rivals Evaluated

The Welsh squad sit thirty-fourth in the FIFA standings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia 75th and Kosovo 84th.

The Albanian national team had a impressive qualification campaign, with their only losses suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed full points without conceding a solitary goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's more notable names, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their scoring chart in the qualifiers with 3 goals.

It is worth noting, Albania have never earned a spot for a World Cup, although they participated at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, failing to advance to 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 direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

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

Kosovo feature former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time top scorer – in a team aiming for a maiden international competition appearance.

They have not yet played Wales.

Bosnia were defeated only one time in the qualifiers, and earned a point additional than Wales managed in their eight games, but nonetheless ended two points behind of Group H winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from clinching a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the teams tied in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the pool.

The Welsh have not managed to beat the Bosnians in four attempts but did have a memorable defeat against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite losing.

As his nation's all-time top goalscorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's key player.

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

And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.

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

Troy Parrott scored the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to secure second place in their group in dramatic fashion.

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

The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their past four meetings with Wales, losing three of these, though James McClean broke the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.