Craig Bellamy's squad Prepared to Challenge Anyone in World Cup Qualifying Draw
The team has secured 8 of their previous sixteen matches under manager Craig Bellamy
Wales' attention are squarely on Thursday's World Cup play-off fixture as they prepare for discovering their semifinal and potential final opponents.
After finished as runners-up in their qualification group following a commanding 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – Wales will play the semi-final match on home soil.
They will meet either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Kosovan team or Republic of Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.
Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw thinks the Welsh squad will relish a tie against any opponent after their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his approach is 'give us whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw said.
"Many people were asking recently, 'do we actually want Ireland because of that local atmosphere?'. In my view many supporters were hesitant. But personally, that would be incredible.
"It's one of those, indeed, we're ready for Kosovo or Bosnia and the Albanians are decent and Ireland, naturally, they're a strong team so they'll be tough.
"But the sense is that we're prepared for anyone right now and we're confident, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."
Potential Playoff Semifinal Rivals Reviewed
Wales are placed 34th in the world rankings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and Kosovo eighty-fourth.
Albania enjoyed a strong qualifying run, 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 Red and Blacks's recognizable players, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their scoring tally in qualifying with 3 goals.
Importantly, Albania have never earned a spot for a World Cup, although they participated at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, failing to advance to the knockout stages on both occasions.
As Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid runs, with both not managing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.
The Swiss finished the six-match qualifiers three points clear of the Kosovans, whose single loss was at the hands of the pool winners.
Kosovo include former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic leading goalscorer – in a team targeting a first international competition appearance.
They have not yet played the Welsh team.
Bosnia were defeated just once in qualifying, and earned a point additional than the Welsh achieved in their eight games, but still finished 2 points adrift of their group winners Austria.
They were 13 minutes away from securing a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the pair drew in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.
The Welsh have failed to defeat the Bosnian side in four attempts but did have a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite losing.
Being his country's historic leading scorer and most-capped 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 Republic of Ireland.
Having taken only a single point from their first 3 matches, Heimir HallgrĂmsson's side stormed into the playoffs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott scored 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 place in their group in dramatic fashion.
Talisman Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his team's revival while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting jersey his to keep.
The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their last 4 meetings with the Welsh, losing 3 of those, though James McClean shattered the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.
