Wales Ready to Face Anyone in World Cup Play-off Fixture
The team has secured eight of their recent 16 matches under coach Craig Bellamy
Wales' focus are squarely on the upcoming World Cup play-off draw as they prepare for discovering their semi-final and possible final opponents.
After ended as runners-up in their qualifying pool following a commanding 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – the side will host the semifinal match on their own turf.
They will meet either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.
Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw thinks the Dragons will embrace a tie against whichever opponent following their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mindset is 'give us anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw stated.
"A lot of supporters were wondering last night, 'do we actually want Republic of Ireland because of that derby feel?'. In my view many people were hesitant. But for me, that would be fantastic.
"It's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take Kosovo or Bosnia and the Albanians are competitive and Ireland, naturally, they're a capable team so it will be difficult.
"However the sense is that we'll take anyone right now and we're confident, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."
Potential Play-off Semi-final Opponents Reviewed
Wales sit thirty-fourth in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.
The Albanian national team had a strong qualification run, with their sole defeats suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who secured full points without allowing a solitary goal.
Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's more notable players, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their scoring tally in qualifying with three goals.
Notably, the Albanians have not yet qualified for a World Cup, although they featured at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, not managing to advance to the knockout stages on each times.
While Slovenia and Sweden had torrid campaigns, with each not managing to win a qualification match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.
The Swiss ended the six-game qualifiers 3 points clear of the Kosovans, whose one loss was at the hands of the group winners.
The Kosovan squad include ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic top scorer – in a team aiming for a maiden major tournament appearance.
They have not yet played Wales.
Bosnia lost only one time in qualifying, and earned a points additional than Wales managed in their 8 games, but nonetheless finished two points behind of Group H winners Austria.
They were 13 minutes away from clinching a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians ensured the pair tied in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.
Wales have not managed to defeat the Bosnians in four matches but experienced a unforgettable defeat against Zmajevi as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after losing.
As his nation's historic top goalscorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's key player.
The veteran was his squad's leading goalscorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.
And finally, we have Ireland.
Having taken only a single point from their opening three matches, Heimir HallgrÃmsson's side stormed into the play-offs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott scored both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to secure second spot in their group in dramatic style.
Talisman Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his team's revival while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one jersey his to keep.
Ireland are without a win in their past 4 encounters with the Welsh, defeated in 3 of these, although James McClean shattered the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.