Wales Prepared to Take on Anyone in World Cup Playoff Draw
Wales have won 8 of their recent 16 matches with manager Craig Bellamy
The team's attention are squarely on Thursday's World Cup playoff fixture as they await learning their semifinal and possible final challengers.
Having ended as runners-up in their qualifying pool thanks to a dominant 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – the side will play the semifinal match on their own turf.
They will face either the Albanian side, Bosnia, Kosovo or Republic of Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.
Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will embrace a tie against whichever team following their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mentality is 'bring on whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw commented.
"Many supporters were saying last night, 'do we really want Ireland because of that local feel?'. I think a number of people didn't. But for me, that would be fantastic.
"It's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take the Kosovans or Bosnia and Albania are competitive and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they are a capable team so they'll be challenging.
"However the sense is that we'll take anyone right now and we're confident, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."
Possible Play-off Semi-final Opponents Reviewed
The Welsh squad are placed thirty-fourth in the FIFA standings, with Albania 61st, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.
The Albanian national team enjoyed a solid qualifying run, with their sole losses suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed full points without conceding a solitary goal.
The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's prominent players, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their goal chart in qualifying with 3 goals.
Notably, Albania have never earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, although they featured at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, failing to advance to the knockout stages on both occasions.
As Slovenia and Sweden endured difficult runs, with each not managing to win a qualification match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.
The Switzerland ended the six-game campaign 3 points ahead of Kosovo, whose single defeat was at the hands of the pool winners.
The Kosovan squad feature former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic leading goalscorer – in a squad aiming for a maiden international competition appearance.
They have never played Wales.
Bosnia-Herzegovina lost only one time in the qualifiers, and claimed a point more than Wales achieved in their 8 games, but still finished two points adrift of their group winners Austria.
They were 13 minutes away from securing a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians ensured the teams tied in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.
Wales have failed to defeat the Bosnians in four matches but experienced a unforgettable loss against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.
As his country's all-time leading scorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's key player.
The veteran was his team's top scorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.
Lastly, we have Ireland.
Having secured just one point from their first three qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the play-offs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott netted the two goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to take second spot in their group in dramatic style.
Key player Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his team's revival while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting position his own.
The Republic of Ireland are winless in their last four encounters with the Welsh, losing 3 of these, although James McClean shattered the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.
