World Cup qualifying: Wales v Bosnia-Herzegovina play-off to be staged in Cardiff

Wales got the point they needed to secure a play-off place thanks to a tense goalless draw with Slovenia

Wales' World Cup play-off semi-final against Bosnia-Herzegovina will be played at the Cardiff City Stadium.

The game will take place on Thursday, 6 October (19:15 BST).

The winners will face Switzerland away in one of three European play-off finals on 11 October.

The two best-ranked play-off final winners will secure places at the 2023 World Cup, with the other victorious side going into inter-continental play-offs, which take place next February.

Manager Gemma Grainger is pleased to know Wales' potential path to a first major tournament following Friday's draw.

"I think we see it as a favourable draw for a couple of reasons," said Grainger.

"Knowing who we've got in game one and game two - there are some countries that have come out of the draw and it could be either/or going into the second game.

"So we've got a real clear route, we are focusing on two teams and that starts with Bosnia at home.

"I think the home draw was the best possible draw we could have had, in terms of that round one game."

Bosnia-Herzegovina were the weakest side in Friday's draw according to Fifa's rankings.

They are ranked 63rd in the world, 33 places below Wales, who were the second lowest-ranked nation of the nine in the draw. Switzerland are ranked 20th.

Wales are through to the World Cup play-offs for the first time courtesy of last Tuesday's goalless draw with Slovenia, which was played in front of 12,741 fans.

That attendance was more than double the previous record for a Wales women's home game.

"We always want to play at home," Grainger added. "That was something that we wanted, especially after the Slovenia game and the crowd there and now we want to make sure we build on that.

"Bosnia, being the lowest ranked team, provides its own challenges. I could see, externally, why drawing the lowest-ranked team can be seen as a competitive advantage but actually they will provide us with difficult opposition for different reasons."

The inter-continental play-offs, which will be held in New Zealand, will feature 10 teams divided into three paths, with three World Cup spots on offer.

The third-ranked European play-off winner will play one of Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Cameroon, Senegal, Haiti, Panama, Chile, Paraguay and Papua New Guinea in a one-off final.

"It is one of the most complex qualification processes I've ever been involved in," Grainger said.

"It's one of the hardest ways to qualify for the World Cup in terms of what the qualification process looks like, the length of it, and also the quality of teams that we have in Europe."

Wales were missing their most-capped player, Jess Fishlock, for the decisive group games against Greece and Slovenia due to a hamstring problem, but Grainger is hopeful the midfielder will return for the play-offs.