Thursday's World Cup qualifier results and roundup: Wales, Republic of Ireland suffer penalty heartache in semi-finals of playoffs

Wales and Republic of Ireland both suffered penalty heartache on Thursday evening, with the two nations seeing their 2026 World Cup hopes extinguished in the semi-finals of the playoffs.

Wales took the lead in the early stages of the second period against Bosnia-Herzegovina through Daniel James, but veteran striker Edin Dzeko came up with a leveller late on.

The contest headed for penalties; Harry Wilson and Mark Harris both converted, but Brennan Johnson and Neco Williams missed, with Bosnia-Herzegovina triumphing 4-2 in the shootout to set up a final against Italy next week.

Republic of Ireland were also knocked out on penalties following a 2-2 draw with Czech Republic.

Heimir Hallgrimsson's side led 2-0 on the night courtesy of a penalty from Troy Parrott and own goal from Matej Kovar, but the hosts had one back through Patrik Schick in the 27th minute before Ladislav Krejci levelled it at 2-2 late on.

Czech Republic scored four of their five penalties in the shootout, while Finn Azaz and Alan Browne crucially missed for Republic of Ireland, who have seen their hopes of making the finals of this summer's tournament come to an end.

A goal and assist for this man tonight, what a performance ??#ITANIR #Azzurri #VivoAzzurro pic.twitter.com/66vyqYE5y9
— Italy ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@Azzurri_En) March 26, 2026

World Cup 2026: Denmark to face Czech Republic, Italy to tackle Bosnia-Herzegovina in blockbuster finals

Italy hosted a Northern Ireland outfit that were looking for a famous result, and it was a cagey first 45 minutes of action, with the hosts far from their best.

The breakthrough came early in the second period, though, with the much-discussed Sandro Tonali, who is currently being linked with a move to Manchester United, making the breakthrough, before Moise Kean made it 2-0 in the 80th minute.

Italy were one of just two teams to keep a clean sheet on the night, the other being Denmark, who were excellent in their 4-0 success over North Macedonia.

Gustav Isaksen scored twice, while Mikkel Damsgaard and Christian Norgaard also registered, as Denmark comfortably secured their spot in Tuesday's final.

Döminant. pic.twitter.com/8SrxAJ7NDU
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) March 26, 2026

Turkey, Kosovo, Sweden, Poland progress to playoff finals to keep 2026 World Cup hopes alive

Turkey became the first team to book their spot in the Path C playoff final, having recorded a 1-0 victory over Romania, with Ferdi Kadioglu finding the back of the net in the early stages of the second period to decide the contest.

Kosovo will be Turkey's opponents in next week's final, with the former recording a stunning 4-3 victory over Slovakia; Kosovo actually trailed 2-1 at the interval, but they scored three times in the second period to keep their 2026 World Cup hopes alive.

Path B's final will be between Poland and Sweden, with the pair overcoming Albania and Ukraine respectively in the semi-finals of the playoffs.

Poland were 2-1 winners over Albania, with Barcelona star Robert Lewandowski on the scoresheet, while Sweden were impressive in a 3-1 success over Ukraine, with Arsenal's Viktor Gyokeres hitting a hat-trick for the Blue and Yellows.