Craig Bellamy's squad Prepared to Take on Whichever Opponent in World Cup Playoff Draw
Wales have won 8 of their recent sixteen matches with coach Craig Bellamy
Wales' attention are squarely on the upcoming World Cup play-off fixture as they prepare for discovering their semifinal and potential final challengers.
After finished second in their qualification pool thanks to a decisive 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – the side will play the semifinal encounter on home soil.
They will play against either Albania, Bosnia, the Kosovan team or Republic of Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.
Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw thinks the Welsh squad will relish a tie against whichever team following their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his approach is 'bring on anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw commented.
"A lot of fans were saying recently, 'do we really want Ireland because of that derby atmosphere?'. In my view a number of supporters didn't. But for me, that would be incredible.
"So it's one of those, indeed, we're ready for the Kosovans or the Bosnians and the Albanians are decent and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they're a capable team so they'll be difficult.
"But the sense is that we're prepared for anybody at the moment and it doesn't matter, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."
Potential Play-off Semi-final Opponents Reviewed
The Welsh squad are placed 34th in the FIFA standings, with Albania sixty-first, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and the Kosovan side 84th.
Albania enjoyed a strong qualifying campaign, with their sole defeats coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed maximum points without conceding a solitary goal.
The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's more notable names, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their goal tally in the qualifiers with three goals.
Importantly, Albania have not yet qualified for a World Cup, though they featured at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, failing to reach the last 16 on both times.
As Slovenia and Sweden endured difficult campaigns, with both not managing to win a qualifying match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.
The Swiss finished the six-match campaign 3 points clear of the Kosovans, whose one loss came at the hands of the group winners.
The Kosovan squad include former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time top scorer – in a team targeting a maiden major tournament appearance.
They have never played Wales.
Bosnia-Herzegovina lost only one time in qualifying, and claimed a point additional than Wales achieved in their eight games, but still ended two points adrift of their group winners Austria.
They were a quarter of an hour away from securing a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians ensured the teams tied in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.
The Welsh have failed to beat the Bosnian side in 4 matches but did have a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite losing.
As his country's historic leading scorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's key player.
The veteran was his team's top scorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.
Lastly, we have Ireland.
Having taken only a single point from their first 3 matches, Heimir HallgrĂmsson's side stormed into the play-offs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott scored both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to secure runner-up place in their group in thrilling style.
Talisman Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his team's revival while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting position his to keep.
The Republic of Ireland are winless in their last four meetings with Wales, defeated in 3 of these, though James McClean broke the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.
