Istvan Kovacs will referee the Wales – Bosnia and Herzegovina semifinal in the World Cup qualifying playoffs.

Istvan Kovacs has been appointed to officiate the semifinal between Wales and Bosnia-Herzegovina, in the World Cup qualifying playoff. The match will take place at Cardiff City Stadium on Thursday, March 26, at 21:45. The referee team will include Mihai Marica and Ferencz Tunyogi as assistant referees, Tobias Stieler from Germany as the fourth official, and Dennis Higler from the Netherlands will officiate from the VAR room.

This match comes in a tense context, after Bosnia's coach, Sergej Barbarez, accused Welsh coach Steve Cooper of sabotaging the team's preparation, claiming that midfielder Benjamin Tahirovic was excluded from the squad for reasons related to his origin. The winner of the semifinal will advance to face Italy or Northern Ireland in the fight for a place in this summer's final tournament, which will be broadcast on Universul Antena.