Wales Ready to Face Whichever Opponent in World Cup Playoff Draw
The team has won eight of their recent sixteen matches under manager Craig Bellamy
Wales' focus are firmly on Thursday's World Cup playoff fixture as they prepare for learning their semi-final and possible final challengers.
Having ended as runners-up in their qualification group thanks to a commanding 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – Wales will host the semi-final encounter on their own turf.
They will play against either Albania, Bosnia, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.
Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will relish a tie against whichever team after their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his approach is 'bring on whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw stated.
"Many fans were saying last night, 'should we actually want Ireland as it's that derby atmosphere?'. In my view a number of supporters didn't. But for me, that could be fantastic.
"It's one of those, indeed, we'll take the Kosovans or the Bosnians and the Albanians are not bad and Ireland, naturally, they're a capable team so they'll be tough.
"However you just feel that we'll take anyone right now and we're confident, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."
Potential Play-off Semi-final Rivals Assessed
The Welsh squad sit thirty-fourth in the FIFA standings, with the Albanian team 61st, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia 75th and Kosovo 84th.
Albania enjoyed a strong qualifying campaign, with their sole defeats suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who claimed maximum points without allowing a solitary goal.
The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's recognizable names, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their goal tally in the qualifiers with 3 goals.
It is worth noting, Albania have not yet qualified for a FIFA World Cup, although they participated at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, failing to reach the last 16 on both occasions.
While Slovenia and Sweden had difficult runs, with both not managing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.
The Switzerland ended the six-game campaign three points ahead of the Kosovans, whose single defeat came at the hands of the group winners.
The Kosovan squad feature ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time top scorer – in a squad targeting a first international competition appearance.
They have not yet faced the Welsh team.
Bosnia were defeated only one time in the qualifiers, and claimed a point more than the Welsh achieved in their 8 games, but still ended 2 points adrift of Group H winners Austria.
They were a quarter of an hour away from securing a place at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians ensured the pair drew in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.
Wales have not managed to defeat the Bosnian side in 4 attempts but experienced a unforgettable loss against the Dragons as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.
Being his nation's all-time top goalscorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's star player.
The veteran was his squad's top scorer in qualifying with five goals.
Lastly, we have Ireland.
Having taken just one point from their opening 3 qualifiers, Heimir HallgrÃmsson's side surged into the playoffs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott scored the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to take second place in Group F in dramatic style.
Key player Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his side's resurgence while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one position his own.
The Republic of Ireland are winless in their last 4 encounters with Wales, losing 3 of those, although James McClean shattered the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.
