🔗 Share this article

The team's sights are squarely on the upcoming World Cup playoff draw as they prepare for learning their semi-final and potential final challengers.

After ended as runners-up in their qualifying pool thanks to 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 face either the Albanian side, Bosnia, Kosovo or Ireland in that match on 26 March.

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw believes the Welsh squad will relish a tie against whichever team after their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mentality is 'give us anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw commented.

"Many people were wondering last night, 'should we actually want Republic of Ireland as it's that local atmosphere?'. I think many supporters didn't. But personally, that could be fantastic.

"So it's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take Kosovo or the Bosnians and Albania are decent and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they're a very good team so they'll be tough.

"However the sense is that we'll take anybody at the moment and we're confident, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semi-final Rivals Evaluated

Wales sit 34th in the world rankings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia seventy-fifth and Kosovo 84th.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a solid qualification campaign, with their sole losses 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 Red and Blacks's prominent players, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their scoring chart in qualifying with 3 goals.

It is worth noting, Albania have not yet qualified for a World Cup, although they participated at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, not managing to advance to the knockout stages on each times.

As Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid runs, with both failing to win a qualifying 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 one defeat came at the hands of the group winners.

Kosovo feature former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic top scorer – in a team aiming for a first international competition appearance.

They have never played Wales.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated just once in qualifying, and earned a points additional than Wales managed in their eight games, but nonetheless ended 2 points behind of their group winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from clinching a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians ensured the teams tied in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.

The Welsh have failed to defeat the Bosnians in four matches but did have a unforgettable loss against the Dragons as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

As his nation's historic leading scorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's key player.

The 39-year-old was his squad's leading goalscorer in qualifying with 5 goals.

Lastly, we have Ireland.

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

Troy Parrott scored both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a hat-trick – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to take second spot in Group F in dramatic fashion.

Talisman Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his team's revival while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one jersey his own.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their last four meetings with the Welsh, losing three of these, although James McClean broke the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.