World Cup play-off draw: Italy stand in the way of Northern Ireland and Wales | OneFootball

Wales will host Bosnia and Herzegovina while Republic of Ireland travel to Czech Republic and Northern Ireland face a tough test away in Italy in the World Cup play-off semi-finals, as the home nations also learned who they could face in a second play-off to reach the tournament proper.

Wales enjoyed an impressive qualifying campaign with their only defeats coming against table-topping Belgium.

North Macedonia pushed Craig Bellamy’s side until the last matchday before being spanked 7-1 by Wales at Cardiff City Stadium.

Should they beat Bosnia and Herzegovina they will take on either Italy or Northern Ireland to reach the finals.

Three wins and three losses saw Northern Ireland miss out on a top-two place in their World Cup qualifying but Michael O’Neill’s side already had a play-off spot secured.

That is thanks to winning their Uefa Nations League group last year. In a group also featuring Bulgaria, Belarus and Luxembourg, Northern Ireland’s three wins and two draws were enough to come out on top.

Republic of Ireland’s entry into the play-off draw arrived in dramatic fashion as they followed two defeats and a draw in their opening three games with three wins on the bounce, including the famous back-to-back victories over Portugal and then Hungary.

Heimir Hallgrímsson’s side will take on either Denmark or North Macedonia should they get past Czech Republic.

Less than 24 hours after scoring a last-minute winner to round off his hat-trick and secure second place in Group F, Troy Parrott revealed it was “the first time I’ve cried in years”.

“How many times I have watched it back? Probably about 500 times – every time I go on to my phone, it’s there,” Parrott told BBC Sport.

“Even last night when I got to bed, I couldn’t sleep imagining it over and over and over again.

“In general, I’m not really an emotional person, it’s the first time I’ve cried in years. Look I can sit here and try to describe it, but it is the first time I’ve felt something like that.

“I’ve scored goals before but none as meaningful as my last one against Hungary. As a country we’ve had a lot of disappointing results and haven’t given the fans a lot to cheer about, so this was tears of joy.”

World Cup play-offs draw in full

Inter-confederation play-offs

New Caledonia v Jamaica

The winners will play Congo DR in the final.

Bolivia v Suriname

The winners will play Iraq in the final.

European play-offs

Path A Italy v Northern Ireland Wales v Bosnia and Herzegovina