The Welsh team Prepared to Challenge Anyone in World Cup Qualifying Draw
Wales have secured eight of their last sixteen matches with coach Craig Bellamy
Wales' sights are firmly on the upcoming World Cup playoff fixture as they await discovering their semifinal and potential final opponents.
After finished as runners-up in their qualifying group following a decisive 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – Wales will play the semifinal match on home soil.
They will meet either Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo or Ireland in that match on 26 March.
Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will welcome a tie against whichever opponent following their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mentality is 'give us anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw commented.
"Many fans were asking recently, 'should we really want Republic of Ireland because of that derby feel?'. In my view a number of supporters were hesitant. But for me, that would be amazing.
"It's that type of situation, indeed, we're ready for the Kosovans or Bosnia and the Albanians are competitive and Ireland, of course, they are a capable team so it will be tough.
"However you just feel that we'll take anybody right now and we're confident, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy."
Possible Playoff Semifinal Opponents Evaluated
Wales are placed 34th in the world rankings, with the Albanian team 61st, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and the Kosovan side 84th.
The Albanian national team enjoyed a solid qualification campaign, with their only losses coming at the hands of their group winners England, who secured full points without conceding a single goal.
Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's prominent names, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their scoring tally in qualifying with three goals.
It is worth noting, the Albanians have never earned a spot for a 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, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.
The Swiss finished the six-match qualifiers 3 points clear of Kosovo, whose one defeat came at the hands of the pool winners.
The Kosovan squad feature former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time leading goalscorer – in a squad aiming for a first international competition appearance.
They have not yet faced Wales.
Bosnia lost only one time in qualifying, and claimed a points additional than Wales achieved in their 8 games, but still finished 2 points behind of their group winners Austria.
They were 13 minutes away from securing a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the teams tied in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.
Wales have failed to defeat the Bosnians in 4 matches but experienced a unforgettable loss against Zmajevi as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite losing.
Being his nation's all-time top goalscorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's key player.
The veteran was his squad's top scorer in the qualifiers with five goals.
And finally, we have Ireland.
Having taken just one point from their first three matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the play-offs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott scored both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to take second place in their group in dramatic fashion.
Key player Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his team's resurgence while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting jersey his to keep.
Ireland are winless in their past four meetings with the Welsh, losing three of these, although James McClean shattered the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.
