Wales will face Bosnia and Herzegovina at home in the World Cup qualifying play-off semi-final, with the winner to play either Northern Ireland or Italy.

Wales play Bosnia at the Cardiff City Stadium on Thursday 26th March and, if they win in a one-off match, will host the winner of Northern Ireland and Italy on Tuesday 31st March.

Twelve teams entered the play-offs by finishing second in their World Cup qualifying group. Four teams, including Northern Ireland, qualified by winning their Nations League group last year.

The draw for the World Cup – which will involve England and Scotland – will take place on 5 December in Washington DC.

Since the UEFA major tournament qualifiers changed for the 2022 World Cup, Wales have reached the play-off stage in each qualification campaign.

By luck of the draw, all five – or potentially six – of their play-off matches have been at the Cardiff City Stadium.

For the 2022 World Cup, Wales beat Austria in the semi-final and Ukraine in the final to progress to a first finals since 1958. Making next year’s tournament would mark their third appearance at a World Cup.

For last summer’s EURO 2024, Wales beat Finland 4-1 before losing an agonising match on penalties to Poland.

While Italy are perhaps the team to avoid, the 2006 World Cup winners lost on their most recent visit to Cardiff in 2002 with current Wales head coach Craig Bellamy scoring the winner.

World Cup Play-off Draw

Italy v Northern Ireland

Wales v Bosnia-Herzegovina*

*The winner of this tie will host the final

Sportin Wales’s coverage of Wales’s World Cup qualifying campaign is proudly sponsored by S4C. You can watch all of Wales’s matches this year for free on S4C and S4C Clic.

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