Will Wales’ World Cup play-off go to extra time and penalties or semi-final second leg?

Need to know

Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are all in action in a World Cup qualifying single-leg semi-final this Thursday

Everything you need to know ahead of Thursday’s World Cup playoffs:

• Single-leg knockout format: The play-offs consist of four separate paths (A, B, C, and D), each structured as a four-team mini-tournament with two semi-finals and one final. Every match is a single-leg knockout, meaning there are no second legs or aggregate scores to fall back on.
• Extra time and penalties: Since every game must produce a winner this Thursday, matches that are tied after 90 minutes will go to 30 minutes of extra time. If the scores remain level after that extra period, the winner will be decided by a penalty shoot-out.
• Wales vs Bosnia and Herzegovina: Wales are playing their Path A semi-final against Bosnia and Herzegovina at the Cardiff City Stadium. As the higher-seeded team in this bracket, Wales earned the right to host this crucial do-or-die fixture in front of their home fans.
• Northern Ireland vs Italy: Northern Ireland face a massive challenge in their Path A semi-final away against Italy in Bergamo. Because they are in the same path as Wales, they are effectively on the other side of the same bracket.
• The Path A final: If both Wales and Northern Ireland win their respective matches, they will face each other in the Path A final on Tuesday, March 31. The winner of that final secures one of the last remaining tickets to the 2026 World Cup.
• Republic of Ireland vs Czech Republic: The Republic of Ireland are competing in Path D and are playing their semi-final away against the Czech Republic in Prague. They must win this difficult away fixture to keep their hopes of a first World Cup appearance since 2002 alive.
• Republic of Ireland’s potential final: Should Ireland win, they will advance to the Path D Final on March 31 against the winner of Denmark vs North Macedonia. A draw was held previously to determine that the winner of Ireland’s semi-final will host that final match.
• Consequences of losing: If any of these teams lose, their World Cup qualifying journey ends immediately with no chance of redemption. However, the losing semi-finalists are scheduled to play a friendly match against each other on Tuesday to fulfil TV obligations.
• The ultimate prize: Only the winner of each path’s final on Tuesday will qualify for the 48-team tournament in North America. For Wales, Northern Ireland, and Ireland, this means they are exactly two wins away from the biggest stage in football.
• READ MORE: Wales announce squad for World Cup play-offs as trio missing but Colwill in

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