The Welsh team Prepared to Challenge Anybody in FIFA World Cup Play-off Draw
The team has secured eight of their previous 16 matches with coach Craig Bellamy
Wales' attention are firmly on Thursday's World Cup play-off draw as they await discovering their semi-final and possible final opponents.
Having finished second in their qualification pool following a commanding 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – Wales will host the semi-final encounter on home soil.
They will play against either the Albanian side, Bosnia, Kosovo or Ireland in that match on 26 March.
Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw thinks the Welsh squad will relish a tie against any opponent following their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mentality is 'bring on anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw stated.
"Many fans were asking last night, 'should we really want Republic of Ireland because of that derby feel?'. In my view many people were hesitant. But for me, that would be incredible.
"So it's that type of situation, indeed, we're ready for Kosovo or the Bosnians and Albania are decent and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they're a strong team so it will be challenging.
"However the sense is that we'll take anybody at the moment and we're confident, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."
Potential Play-off Semi-final Opponents Reviewed
Wales are placed thirty-fourth in the FIFA standings, with Albania 61st, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia seventy-fifth and Kosovo 84th.
The Albanian national team had a strong qualification run, with their sole losses coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured maximum points without conceding a solitary goal.
The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's recognizable names, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their scoring chart in the qualifiers with 3 goals.
Notably, the Albanians have never earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, although they featured at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, failing to reach the last 16 on both occasions.
As Slovenia and Sweden had torrid campaigns, with both failing to win a qualification match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.
The Switzerland finished the six-match campaign three points clear of Kosovo, whose one defeat 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 historic top scorer – in a team targeting a first international competition appearance.
They have not yet played Wales.
Bosnia-Herzegovina lost only one time in qualifying, and earned a point additional than the Welsh managed in their 8 games, but nonetheless ended 2 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 leveler for the Austrians ensured the pair tied in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.
Wales have failed to defeat the Bosnians in 4 attempts but experienced a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite losing.
Being his country's all-time leading scorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's star player.
The veteran was his team's leading goalscorer in qualifying with 5 goals.
Lastly, we have Ireland.
After secured just one point from their opening three qualifiers, Heimir HallgrÃmsson's side surged into the playoffs with successive 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 third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to secure runner-up spot in Group F in thrilling fashion.
Key player Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his side's revival while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one position his to keep.
Ireland are without a win in their last four meetings with the Welsh, losing 3 of those, though James McClean broke the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.
