The Welsh team Ready to Face Whichever Opponent in World Cup Qualifying Fixture
Wales have secured 8 of their previous 16 matches under manager Craig Bellamy
Wales' attention are squarely on the upcoming World Cup playoff draw as they await discovering their semi-final and possible final opponents.
Having finished second in their qualifying pool following a dominant 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – Wales will host the semi-final encounter on home soil.
They will meet either Albania, Bosnia, the Kosovan team or Republic of Ireland in that match on 26 March.
Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Dragons will relish a tie against whichever team after their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mindset is 'give us anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw commented.
"Many supporters were wondering last night, 'do we really want Ireland because of that local atmosphere?'. I think many people didn't. But personally, that would be incredible.
"So it's one of those, indeed, we'll take the Kosovans or Bosnia and the Albanians are decent and Republic of Ireland, of course, they are a strong team so they'll be challenging.
"However the sense is that we're prepared for anyone at the moment and we're confident, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."
Possible Playoff Semi-final Opponents Reviewed
Wales are placed thirty-fourth in the world rankings, with the Albanian team 61st, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and the Kosovan side 84th.
Albania enjoyed a solid qualifying campaign, with their only losses suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed maximum points without allowing a single goal.
The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's recognizable names, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their goal chart in the qualifiers with 3 goals.
Importantly, the Albanians have not yet qualified for a World Cup, although they participated at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, failing to reach the last 16 on both occasions.
As Slovenia and Sweden had difficult campaigns, with both not managing to win a qualification match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.
The Switzerland ended the six-match qualifiers three points clear of the Kosovans, whose single defeat came at the hands of the group winners.
Kosovo feature former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic leading goalscorer – in a team aiming for a maiden international competition appearance.
They have never played the Welsh team.
Bosnia were defeated only one time in qualifying, and earned a point more than the Welsh achieved in their 8 games, but nonetheless ended two points behind of Group H winners Austria.
They were 13 minutes away from clinching a place at the World Cup, 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.
Wales have failed to defeat the Bosnians in 4 matches but did have a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite losing.
As his country's all-time top goalscorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's key player.
The veteran was his squad's leading goalscorer in qualifying with five goals.
Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.
After taken only a single point from their first 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the play-offs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott netted the two 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 take runner-up spot in Group F in thrilling style.
Talisman Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his side's resurgence while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting jersey his to keep.
The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their past 4 encounters with the Welsh, defeated in three of these, though James McClean broke the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.