Wales Prepared to Take on Whichever Opponent in World Cup Playoff Draw
The team has won 8 of their previous 16 matches with coach Craig Bellamy
Wales' attention are squarely on Thursday's World Cup play-off draw as they await discovering their semifinal and potential final opponents.
After ended as runners-up in their qualifying group following a commanding 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – the side will play the semifinal encounter on home soil.
They will meet either Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.
Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Dragons will relish a match against any team following their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mindset is 'bring on anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw said.
"A lot of fans were asking recently, 'do we really want Republic of Ireland because of that derby atmosphere?'. In my view a number of people were hesitant. But for me, that would be fantastic.
"So it's that type of situation, yes, we're ready for Kosovo or Bosnia and Albania are competitive and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they are a very good team so it will be tough.
"However you just feel that we'll take anybody at the moment and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."
Potential Play-off Semifinal Opponents Assessed
The Welsh squad are placed thirty-fourth in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team 61st, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia seventy-fifth and Kosovo 84th.
The Albanian national team had a solid qualifying campaign, with their sole defeats suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured full points without conceding a single goal.
The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's more notable names, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their goal tally in the qualifiers with three goals.
Notably, the Albanians have not yet qualified for a FIFA World Cup, although they participated at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, not managing to reach the knockout stages on each times.
While Slovenia and Sweden had poor campaigns, with both not managing to win a qualification match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.
The Swiss ended the six-game campaign 3 points clear of Kosovo, whose single defeat came at the hands of the group winners.
The Kosovan squad feature ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time leading goalscorer – in a team aiming for a maiden international competition appearance.
They have not yet faced the Welsh team.
Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated only one time in qualifying, and earned a points additional than the Welsh achieved in their 8 games, but nonetheless finished two points behind of their group winners Austria.
They were 13 minutes away from securing a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians meant the pair tied in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.
The Welsh have failed to beat the Bosnians in four matches but did have a memorable defeat against Zmajevi as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.
As his nation's historic top goalscorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player.
The 39-year-old was his squad's leading goalscorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.
And finally, we have Ireland.
After taken only a single point from their opening three matches, Heimir HallgrĂmsson's side surged into the playoffs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott netted both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a hat-trick – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to take second place in their group in thrilling fashion.
Key player Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his team's resurgence while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one position his to keep.
The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their past 4 meetings with the Welsh, losing three of these, although James McClean shattered the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.
