Preview: Wales vs Bosnia-Herzegovina - prediction, team news, lineups

Wales will endeavour to move one step close to 2026 World Cup qualification when they welcome Bosnia-Herzegovina to the Cardiff City Stadium for their playoff semi-final on Thursday night.

The winners of this one-off tie will face either Italy or Northern Ireland on home soil in the playoff final next Tuesday for a place at this summer’s tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Match preview

Wales are chasing their third-ever World Cup finals appearance and a second consecutive qualification, after competing at the 2022 edition in Qatar where they were eliminated in the group stage.

Craig Bellamy’s side narrowly missed out on automatic qualification for the 2026 tournament after finishing second in Group J and just two points behind group winners Belgium, despite accumulating 16 points in total across their eight fixtures.

The Dragons enter Thursday’s contest after thrashing North Macedonia by a 7-1 scoreline in their final group qualifier in November last year. Harry Wilson scored a hat-trick to inspire his nation to their biggest victory in 47 years, securing a home playoff tie.

Wales will welcome a return to Cardiff where they have won five of their last six competitive home games, while they also won at home against both Austria and Ukraine in the playoffs to reach the 2022 World Cup.

Ranked 31st in the world by FIFA, Wales will not take Bosnia lightly, though, as they have failed to win any of their previous four international meetings (D2 L2), failing to score on three occasions.

Bosnia-Herzegovina agonisingly missed out on automatic 2026 World Cup qualification after conceding a late equaliser to draw 1-1 with Group H winners Austria in their most recent fixture in November last year.

Sergej Barbarez's side won five and drew one of their eight group games, but they had to settle for second place with 17 points – only Italy (18) in Group I collected more points and failed to win their group.

Nevertheless, Bosnia will get a second bite of the cherry in the playoffs, as they attempt to advance to the World Cup finals for the first time since their maiden appearance as an independent nation at the 2014 tournament in Brazil.

Ranked 71st in the world by FIFA, Bosnia will be keen to end their playoff hoodoo for major tournaments, as they have never won a single match in seven attempts (D3 L4) in four previous playoff campaigns since 2010 (one World Cup and four European Championships).

However, Zmajevi (The Dragons) will take comfort from their four-game unbeaten away run in all competitions (D2 L2), as well as their record of one win and two draws from three previous visits to Wales, including a 2-0 friendly win in August 2012.

Wales 2026 World Cup Qualifying form:

Wales form (all competitions):

Bosnia-Herzegovina 2026 World Cup Qualifying form:

Bosnia-Herzegovina form (all competitions):

Team News

Wales will be without Ben Davies, Chris Mepham, Kieffer Moore and Connor Roberts due to injury, while free agent Aaron Ramsey has not been called up, as he has not played competitively since September 2025 for the Mexican club Pumas.

Wrexham goalkeeper Danny Ward, Rangers winger Rabbi Matondo and left-back Rhys Norrington Davies - on loan at QPR from Sheffield United - have all been called up for the first time since the beginning of this season and will be available for selection on Thursday.

Bellamy is expected to name his strongest possible side, so the likes of Harry Wilson, Joe Rodon, Neco Williams, Brennan Johnson and David Brooks – all Premier League players – should be involved in some capacity.

As for Bosnia, Sampdoria defender Dennis Hadzikadunic has been forced to withdraw from the squad due to injury, but uncapped goalkeeper Osman Hadzikic and defender Nidal Celik have been called up.

Benjamin Tahirovic has allegedly called Welshman and Brondby manager Steve Cooper to apologise for false accusations that he was intentionally dropped by his club ahead of the World Cup playoffs. The 24-cap midfielder is still in contention to play on Thursday.

At the ripe old age of 40, all-time record goalscorer (72) and appearance-maker (146) Edin Dzeko has scored five goals in qualifying, and the Schalke striker is expected to lead the line as captain against Wales.

Wales possible starting lineup:

Darlow; Williams, Rodon, Lawlor, Dasilva; Ampadu, J. James; Brooks, Wilson, Johnson, Broadhead; Johnson

Bosnia-Herzegovina possible starting lineup:

Vasilj; Dedic, Muharemovic, Katic, Kolasinac; Bajraktarevic, Tahirovic, Sunjic, Memic; Tabakovic, Dzeko

We say: Wales 2-1 Bosnia-Herzegovina

This game must be decided on the night, with extra time and penalties potentially required in what could prove to be a tight contest. However, we are backing Wales to keep their World Cup hopes alive and prevail in 90 minutes in front of a fired-up home crowd.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.