Wales Ready to Face Anyone in World Cup Play-off Draw
Wales have won 8 of their previous 16 matches with coach Craig Bellamy
Wales' attention are squarely on the upcoming World Cup playoff fixture as they await discovering their semifinal and possible final rivals.
Having finished as runners-up in their qualification pool thanks to a commanding 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – Wales will play the semifinal match on home soil.
They will play against either the Albanian side, Bosnia, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.
Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw thinks the Welsh squad will welcome a tie against whichever opponent following their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mindset is 'bring on whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw stated.
"A lot of supporters were saying recently, 'should we really want Ireland as it's that local atmosphere?'. In my view a number of supporters were hesitant. But personally, that would be incredible.
"It's one of those, indeed, we're ready for the Kosovans or the Bosnians and Albania are decent and Republic of Ireland, of course, they are a capable team so they'll be tough.
"But you just feel that we're prepared for anybody at the moment and it doesn't matter, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."
Potential Play-off Semi-final Opponents Evaluated
The Welsh squad are placed thirty-fourth in the world standings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia 75th and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.
Albania enjoyed a strong qualifying run, with their sole losses suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured full points without allowing a solitary goal.
The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's more notable players, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their goal tally in the qualifiers with three goals.
It is worth noting, Albania have not yet qualified for a FIFA World Cup, although they participated at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, failing to advance to the last 16 on each occasions.
As Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid runs, with both not managing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.
The Swiss finished the six-game qualifiers 3 points clear of the Kosovans, whose one defeat was at the hands of the group winners.
The Kosovan squad include ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic leading goalscorer – in a squad targeting a first major tournament appearance.
They have never played Wales.
Bosnia were defeated just once in qualifying, and earned a points more than the Welsh managed in their 8 games, but nonetheless ended 2 points behind of their group winners Austria.
They were a quarter of an hour away from clinching a place at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the pair drew in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.
The Welsh have failed to defeat the Bosnians in four matches but did have a memorable loss against the Dragons as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.
As his country's historic top goalscorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's key player.
The veteran was his squad's leading goalscorer in qualifying with 5 goals.
Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.
Having secured only a single point from their opening 3 qualifiers, Heimir HallgrĂmsson's side surged into the playoffs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott scored both 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 stunned Hungary to take runner-up spot in their group in thrilling style.
Talisman Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his side's revival while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one jersey his to keep.
Ireland are without a win in their past four meetings with Wales, losing three of these, although James McClean broke the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.