🔗 Share this article

The team's attention are squarely on Thursday's World Cup playoff draw as they await discovering their semi-final and possible final opponents.

Having finished second in their qualification group thanks to a commanding 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – the side will host the semifinal match on home soil.

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

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw believes the Welsh squad will welcome a tie against whichever team following their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.

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

"Many people were asking last night, 'should we really want Ireland because of that local atmosphere?'. I think many people didn't. But personally, that would be amazing.

"So it's that type of situation, yes, we're ready for Kosovo or the Bosnians and the Albanians are not bad and Ireland, naturally, they are a capable team so they'll be difficult.

"But the sense is that we'll take anybody right now and it doesn't matter, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semifinal Rivals Evaluated

Wales are placed 34th in the FIFA rankings, with Albania sixty-first, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia 75th and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.

Albania enjoyed a strong qualification campaign, with their only defeats coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured maximum points without allowing a single goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's more notable players, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their scoring chart in qualifying with 3 goals.

It is worth noting, the Albanians have never earned a spot for a World Cup, though they featured at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, not managing to advance to the knockout stages on both occasions.

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

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

The Kosovan squad include ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time top scorer – in a team targeting a first major tournament appearance.

They have not yet faced Wales.

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

They were 13 minutes away from securing a place at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians meant the teams drew in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.

Wales have failed to beat the Bosnians in 4 matches but did have a memorable loss against the Dragons as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

As his nation's historic leading scorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's standout player.

The veteran was his squad's leading goalscorer in qualifying with 5 goals.

And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.

After secured just one 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 netted both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to secure second place in Group F in dramatic fashion.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his side's revival while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one position his own.

The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their last 4 meetings with Wales, defeated in three of those, though James McClean shattered the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.