Wales Prepared to Face Anyone in World Cup Play-off Draw
The team has won eight of their last 16 matches under coach Craig Bellamy
Wales' sights are firmly on the upcoming World Cup playoff fixture as they prepare for discovering their semi-final and possible final opponents.
After ended second in their qualifying group following a decisive 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – Wales will host the semi-final match on their own turf.
They will play against either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.
Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw feels the Dragons will welcome a match against whichever team after their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mentality is 'bring on anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw said.
"A lot of fans were saying recently, 'do we really want Ireland as it's that derby feel?'. In my view many supporters were hesitant. But for me, that could be incredible.
"So it's that type of situation, yes, we're ready for the Kosovans or the Bosnians and the Albanians are not bad and Republic of Ireland, of course, they are a capable team so they'll be difficult.
"But the sense is that we'll take anybody at the moment and it doesn't matter, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."
Possible Play-off Semifinal Opponents Reviewed
Wales sit 34th in the world standings, with the Albanian team 61st, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side 84th.
The Albanian national team enjoyed a strong qualification run, with their only losses suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured maximum points without allowing a single goal.
Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's recognizable players, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their scoring chart in qualifying with three goals.
It is worth noting, the Albanians have never qualified for a World Cup, although they featured at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, not managing to reach the last 16 on both times.
As Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid campaigns, with both failing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.
The Switzerland finished the six-match campaign three points ahead of the Kosovans, whose single loss was at the hands of the group winners.
Kosovo feature former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time leading goalscorer – in a team targeting a first international competition appearance.
They have not yet faced Wales.
Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated just once in the qualifiers, and earned a point additional than Wales achieved in their eight games, but still finished two points adrift 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 qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.
Wales have failed to defeat the Bosnian side in 4 matches but did have a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite losing.
Being his country's historic top goalscorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's standout player.
The 39-year-old was his squad's leading goalscorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.
Lastly, we have Ireland.
After taken only a single point from their opening three qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the playoffs 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 hat-trick – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to take second spot in their group in thrilling fashion.
Key player Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his side's revival while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting position his own.
The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their past four meetings with the Welsh, losing three of those, though James McClean broke the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.