Wales Set to Take on Anyone in World Cup Playoff Fixture
Wales have won eight of their recent sixteen matches with manager Craig Bellamy
Wales' focus are firmly on the upcoming World Cup playoff draw as they prepare for discovering their semifinal and potential final opponents.
Having finished second in their qualification pool thanks to a decisive 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – Wales will host the semifinal match on their own turf.
They will face either the Albanian side, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo or Republic of Ireland in that match on 26 March.
Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will embrace a match against any team after their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mindset is 'bring on anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw commented.
"Many people were asking last night, 'do we really want Ireland because of that local feel?'. I think a number of supporters were hesitant. But for me, that would be amazing.
"So it's that type of situation, indeed, we're ready for the Kosovans or Bosnia and Albania are decent and Ireland, of course, they are a very good team so it will be tough.
"But you just feel that we're prepared for anyone at the moment and it doesn't matter, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."
Potential Play-off Semifinal Rivals Evaluated
Wales sit thirty-fourth in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and Kosovo 84th.
The Albanian national team enjoyed a solid qualifying campaign, with their only losses coming at the hands of their group winners England, who secured full points without conceding a solitary goal.
The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's more notable players, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their goal tally in the qualifiers with three goals.
Notably, Albania have never qualified for a FIFA World Cup, though they featured at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, failing to advance to the knockout stages on each occasions.
While Slovenia and Sweden had difficult runs, with each failing to win a qualification match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.
The Switzerland ended the six-match campaign three points ahead of Kosovo, whose single defeat came at the hands of the group winners.
The Kosovan squad feature former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time top scorer – in a squad targeting a maiden international competition appearance.
They have not yet played the Welsh team.
Bosnia lost just once in the qualifiers, and claimed a points additional than Wales managed in their eight games, but still ended 2 points adrift of their group winners Austria.
They were 13 minutes away from clinching a place at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians meant the pair drew in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.
Wales have not managed to beat the Bosnian side in 4 matches but experienced a memorable loss against the Dragons as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.
As his country's historic top goalscorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's key player.
The 39-year-old was his team's leading goalscorer in qualifying with five goals.
Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.
After secured just one point from their first three matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged 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 scoring a hat-trick – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to take runner-up spot in Group F in thrilling fashion.
Talisman Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his team's resurgence while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting position his to keep.
The Republic of Ireland are winless in their last four meetings with Wales, losing 3 of those, though James McClean shattered 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.
