World Cup Play-Off Semi Final preview: Wales two wins away

Three European spots at the World Cup are still up for grabs and 11 teams enter the play-off semi-finals stage. Wales are just one win away from setting up a final with either Scotland or Ukraine, but first a tough test awaits them in the form of Austria.

We preview their play-off semi-final along with the pick of the other ties below.

Wales v Austria

Wales finished second in their qualifying group behind Belgium, earning them a place in the play-offs. Austria finished fourth in their group but qualified for the play-offs as one of two best-ranked group winners from the 2021-22 Nations League.

Wales come into this tie in good form and are unbeaten in their last seven matches, six of which came in qualifying. Rob Page’s side haven’t found goals hard to come by, scoring 12 in their last six games, but their defensive record is less impressive and their only clean sheets in their last six have come in two ties against Estonia. Austria have scored their fair share of goals too and also have an average of two goals a game from their last seven matches. That suggests plenty of goals in this fixture and over 2.5 goals is priced at 6/4.

Despite lingering injury doubts Gareth Bale is expected to line up against the Austrians, and the Welsh captain’s presence will surely be a huge boost to his side. Bale scored three goals in qualifying and is 13/8 to get on the scoresheet here. Aaron Ramsey also netted three times, but the Juventus-loanee is a bigger priced 7/2 to score at anytime.

Austria pushed eventual European champions Italy all the way when they met in the last 16 of that competition, but they have been more laboured in several of their World Cup qualifiers, losing to Scotland, Israel and Denmark in their last seven games.

In former West Ham striker, Marko Arnautovic, Austria have a dangerous target man and he can be expected to be a handful for the Welsh defence. At 13/8 he looks their most likely goal scorer.

This is a tie that looks in the balance with both sides 7/4 to win. It could go the distance and prove to be a nail-biting encounter for Welsh fans, with a draw after 90 minutes priced at 2/1.

Portugal v Turkey

Portugal’s qualifying campaign didn’t go to plan as they had to surrender top spot in Group A to Serbia. Turkey had a strong campaign, finishing second by only two points to the Netherlands in Group G.

Portugal lost only once in qualifying, but it was a critical loss that saw them drop into the play-off as rivals Serbia ran out 2-1 victors. Their record against Turkey speaks in their favour, with six wins to their opponent’s two.

Cristiano Ronaldo was named in their 25-man squad and the veteran striker remains their most potent goal threat. He is just 6/10 to score at anytime. Portugal will however be without another veteran of their ranks, as defender Pepe is set to miss out.

Turkey only lost once in their last seven games in qualifying, but that was a heavy 6-1 defeat at the hands of the Netherlands. They haven’t really faced much of a challenge since then in beating Latvia, Gibraltar and Montenegro.

This will be much harder and if they are to be in with a chance of reaching their first World Cup since 2002, and they will have to overturn odds of 8/1 in this match.

Portugal head into the game as heavy 7/20 favourites as they look to set up a final against Italy or North Macedonia.

Italy v North Macedonia

Italy finished unbeaten in qualifying, but four draws from eight games saw the European champions surprisingly beaten to top spot by Switzerland. They now face two tough ties in order to make it to Qatar this winter. North Macedonia will have been delighted with their qualifying campaign as they finished best of the rest behind heavy group favourites Germany.

These sides have only met twice before, with Italy victorious in the first game, while North Macedonia held them to a 1-1 draw in 2017.

Italy have nearly a full squad at their disposal, including veteran centre back pair Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini. Despite struggling at times in qualifying, they remain a very difficult side to beat and are expected to have too much fire power for their opponents, with their chance of victory 1/6.

North Macedonia’s 4-0 loss to Germany in qualifying sounds warning signals about their chances here and it would be an almighty shock if they pulled off victory (16/1) against the Italians.

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