Wales Set to Take on Anyone in World Cup Play-off Draw
The team has secured eight of their last 16 matches under coach Craig Bellamy
Wales' sights are squarely on the upcoming World Cup play-off fixture as they prepare for learning their semifinal and possible final opponents.
After ended second in their qualification pool thanks to a commanding 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – Wales will host the semi-final encounter on their own turf.
They will play against either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that match on 26 March.
Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will embrace a match against any opponent following their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his approach is 'bring on whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw stated.
"Many supporters were wondering last night, 'should we actually want Ireland as it's that local feel?'. In my view a number of supporters were hesitant. But for me, that would be amazing.
"So it's one of those, yes, we're ready for the Kosovans or Bosnia and the Albanians are decent and Republic of Ireland, of course, they're a capable team so it will be difficult.
"But the sense is that we're prepared for anybody right now and it doesn't matter, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."
Potential Playoff Semi-final Opponents Evaluated
Wales are placed 34th in the world standings, with the Albanian team 61st, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and Kosovo 84th.
The Albanian national team had a solid qualifying campaign, with their only defeats suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who claimed full points without conceding a solitary goal.
The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's prominent names, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their goal tally in the qualifiers with 3 goals.
Importantly, Albania have never earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, although they featured at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, not managing to advance to the last 16 on both occasions.
As Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid campaigns, with both not managing to win a qualification match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.
The Swiss ended the six-game campaign three points ahead of the Kosovans, whose single loss came at the hands of the pool winners.
Kosovo feature former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic top scorer – in a squad targeting a first international competition appearance.
They have not yet played the Welsh team.
Bosnia-Herzegovina lost just once in the qualifiers, and earned a points more than the Welsh managed in their 8 games, but still finished two points behind of Group H winners Austria.
They were a quarter of an hour away from securing a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the teams drew in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.
The Welsh have failed to defeat the Bosnian side in four attempts but did have a memorable loss against the Dragons as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite losing.
Being his nation's all-time top goalscorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's key player.
The 39-year-old was his team's top scorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.
And finally, we have Ireland.
Having secured just one point from their opening three qualifiers, Heimir HallgrĂmsson's side stormed into the playoffs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott scored the two goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a hat-trick – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to take runner-up spot in Group F in thrilling style.
Talisman Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his team's revival while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one jersey his own.
The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their past 4 meetings with Wales, defeated in 3 of those, though James McClean shattered the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.
