Wales Ready to Face Anyone in FIFA World Cup Playoff Fixture
The team has secured 8 of their previous sixteen matches with coach Craig Bellamy
Wales' sights are squarely on Thursday's World Cup playoff draw as they await discovering their semi-final and potential final rivals.
Having finished second in their qualification group following a commanding 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – the side will host the semifinal match on their own turf.
They will play against either the Albanian side, Bosnia, the Kosovan team or Republic of Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.
Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw thinks the Dragons will embrace a tie against any team after their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his approach is 'bring on whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw said.
"Many fans were saying recently, 'do we actually want Republic of Ireland because of that local feel?'. In my view a number of people didn't. But personally, that would be incredible.
"It's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take Kosovo or the Bosnians and the Albanians are not bad and Republic of Ireland, of course, they are a capable team so it will be challenging.
"But the sense is that we're prepared for anyone right now and it doesn't matter, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."
Possible Playoff Semi-final Opponents Assessed
Wales sit 34th in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side 84th.
Albania had a impressive qualifying campaign, with their sole defeats suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who secured full points without allowing a single goal.
Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's more notable players, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their goal tally in qualifying with 3 goals.
Notably, the Albanians have not yet qualified for a World Cup, although they featured at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, not managing to advance to the knockout stages on each times.
While Slovenia and Sweden endured poor runs, with each not managing to win a qualifying match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.
The Swiss ended the six-match campaign three points ahead of the Kosovans, whose single defeat was at the hands of the pool winners.
Kosovo feature ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic leading goalscorer – in a squad aiming for a first international competition appearance.
They have not yet faced Wales.
Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated just once in qualifying, and claimed a points more than the Welsh managed in their 8 games, but still ended 2 points behind of Group H winners Austria.
They were 13 minutes away from clinching a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians meant the pair drew in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.
Wales have not managed to beat the Bosnians in four matches but did have a memorable loss against the Dragons as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite losing.
As his nation's historic top goalscorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's standout player.
The veteran was his team's leading goalscorer in qualifying with 5 goals.
And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.
Having taken only a single point from their first 3 matches, Heimir HallgrĂmsson's side stormed into the playoffs with back-to-back 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 Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to take runner-up spot in Group F in thrilling fashion.
Talisman Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his team's resurgence while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one jersey his own.
Ireland are without a win in their last 4 meetings with Wales, defeated in 3 of those, though James McClean shattered the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.