Wales Ready to Face Whichever Opponent in FIFA World Cup Playoff Draw
Wales have won eight of their previous sixteen matches with coach Craig Bellamy
The team's sights are firmly on the upcoming World Cup play-off fixture as they await learning their semifinal and possible final challengers.
After finished as runners-up in their qualifying group following a dominant 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – Wales will host the semifinal match on their own turf.
They will meet either Albania, Bosnia, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that match on 26 March.
Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw thinks the Dragons will relish a match against whichever team following their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mentality is 'give us anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw said.
"A lot of people were asking recently, 'do we actually want Ireland as it's that local feel?'. In my view many supporters didn't. But personally, that would be incredible.
"It's that type of situation, yes, we'll take the Kosovans or the Bosnians and the Albanians are decent and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they are a strong team so it will be difficult.
"But the sense is that we'll take anybody at the moment and we're confident, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."
Potential Play-off Semifinal Rivals Evaluated
The Welsh squad sit 34th in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and the Kosovan side 84th.
The Albanian national team had a impressive qualification run, with their only defeats suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured full points without conceding a single goal.
The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's more notable players, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their goal chart in the qualifiers with 3 goals.
It is worth noting, the Albanians have not yet earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, though they participated at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, failing to advance to the knockout stages on both occasions.
While Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid runs, with each failing to win a qualification match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.
The Switzerland finished the six-match campaign three points clear of the Kosovans, whose one loss came at the hands of the pool winners.
Kosovo feature former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic leading goalscorer – in a squad targeting a first major tournament appearance.
They have never faced the Welsh team.
Bosnia-Herzegovina lost just once in the qualifiers, and earned a point additional than Wales managed in their eight games, but nonetheless ended 2 points adrift of Group H winners Austria.
They were 13 minutes away from securing a place at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians ensured the pair drew in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.
Wales have failed to beat the Bosnians in 4 attempts but experienced a unforgettable loss against the Dragons as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.
Being his country's all-time leading scorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's key player.
The veteran was his team's top scorer in qualifying with five goals.
And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.
Having taken just one point from their opening three matches, Heimir HallgrĂmsson's side surged into the play-offs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott scored both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to secure runner-up place in their group in dramatic fashion.
Talisman Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his team's revival while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting jersey his own.
Ireland are without a win in their past 4 encounters with Wales, defeated in 3 of those, although James McClean broke the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.