Wales Prepared to Face Anyone in FIFA World Cup Playoff Draw
The team has won eight of their previous 16 matches under manager Craig Bellamy
Wales' focus are squarely on the upcoming World Cup playoff draw as they await discovering their semi-final and potential final challengers.
After finished second in their qualifying group thanks to a decisive 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – the side will host the semifinal encounter on home soil.
They will play against either the Albanian side, Bosnia, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that match on 26 March.
Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw thinks the Dragons will welcome a tie against any opponent following their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mentality is 'bring on anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw stated.
"Many fans were saying last night, 'should we really want Ireland because of that derby atmosphere?'. I think a number of supporters didn't. But personally, that would be amazing.
"It's one of those, indeed, we're ready for Kosovo or Bosnia and the Albanians are not bad and Republic of Ireland, of course, they're a capable team so it will be difficult.
"But the sense is that we'll take anybody at the moment and we're confident, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy."
Possible Playoff Semi-final Opponents Reviewed
Wales are placed 34th in the world rankings, with Albania 61st, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia 75th and the Kosovan side 84th.
The Albanian national team enjoyed a strong qualification campaign, with their sole defeats suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed full points without conceding a single goal.
Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's prominent players, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their goal tally in the qualifiers with three goals.
Notably, the Albanians have not yet earned a spot for a World Cup, although they participated at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, failing to reach the last 16 on both times.
As Slovenia and Sweden endured difficult campaigns, with each not managing to win a qualification match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.
The Swiss ended the six-game campaign 3 points clear of Kosovo, whose single loss came at the hands of the group winners.
The Kosovan squad feature ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time top scorer – in a team targeting a first major tournament appearance.
They have never played Wales.
Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated only one time in the qualifiers, and earned a points additional than Wales achieved in their eight games, but still ended 2 points adrift of Group H winners Austria.
They were a quarter of an hour away from securing a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians ensured the pair tied in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.
Wales have failed to defeat the Bosnian side in 4 matches but experienced a unforgettable defeat against the Dragons as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite losing.
Being his country's historic top goalscorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's star player.
The 39-year-old was his squad's top scorer in qualifying with 5 goals.
Lastly, we have Ireland.
After taken just one point from their opening three qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the playoffs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott netted both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to secure runner-up place in their group in dramatic fashion.
Key player Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his side's resurgence while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting position his own.
The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their last 4 encounters with the Welsh, losing three of those, though James McClean broke the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.