Wales Set to Challenge Anybody in World Cup Playoff Draw
Wales have won 8 of their recent 16 matches under coach Craig Bellamy
The team's attention are firmly on the upcoming World Cup play-off fixture as they await discovering their semifinal and potential final opponents.
After finished second in their qualifying pool thanks to a commanding 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – Wales will play the semi-final encounter on their own turf.
They will play against either the Albanian side, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo or Ireland in that match on 26 March.
Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw believes the Dragons will relish a match against whichever team following their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mentality is 'bring on anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw commented.
"Many people were wondering last night, 'should we really want Ireland as it's that local atmosphere?'. In my view a number of people were hesitant. But for me, that could be incredible.
"It's that type of situation, yes, we'll take the Kosovans or the Bosnians and the Albanians are not bad and Republic of Ireland, of course, they're a capable team so it will be challenging.
"However the sense is that we'll take anyone at the moment and we're confident, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."
Potential Play-off Semi-final Opponents Evaluated
Wales are placed thirty-fourth in the world rankings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia 75th and Kosovo eighty-fourth.
The Albanian national team enjoyed a impressive qualification campaign, with their only defeats coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured full points without allowing a solitary goal.
Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's recognizable players, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their scoring chart in qualifying with 3 goals.
Notably, the Albanians have never qualified for a World Cup, though they featured at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, failing to reach the last 16 on each occasions.
While Slovenia and Sweden endured difficult campaigns, with both failing to win a qualifying match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.
The Switzerland ended the six-match qualifiers three points ahead of Kosovo, whose one loss came at the hands of the group winners.
Kosovo include former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic top scorer – in a squad aiming for a maiden major tournament appearance.
They have never played Wales.
Bosnia-Herzegovina lost only one time in qualifying, and earned a point additional than the Welsh achieved in their eight games, but still ended two points behind of Group H winners Austria.
They were 13 minutes away from securing a place at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians ensured the pair drew in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.
Wales have failed to defeat the Bosnians in four attempts but experienced a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite losing.
As his country's all-time top goalscorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's key player.
The 39-year-old was his team's leading goalscorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.
And finally, we have Ireland.
After taken just one point from their first 3 qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the play-offs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott netted the two goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to secure second spot in their group in thrilling style.
Key player Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his side's resurgence while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one position his to keep.
The Republic of Ireland are winless in their last 4 meetings with Wales, defeated in three of these, 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.