The Welsh team Set to Face Anybody in World Cup Playoff Fixture
Wales have won 8 of their recent 16 matches under manager Craig Bellamy
The team's sights are firmly on Thursday's World Cup play-off fixture as they prepare for learning their semifinal and possible final challengers.
Having finished second in their qualification pool thanks to a commanding 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – Wales will play the semifinal encounter on home soil.
They will play against either the Albanian side, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo or Republic of Ireland in that match on 26 March.
Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will embrace a match against whichever team following their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mentality is 'give us whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw commented.
"Many fans were wondering last night, 'do we really want Republic of Ireland because of that local feel?'. In my view a number of supporters were hesitant. But personally, that could be incredible.
"It's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take the Kosovans or the Bosnians and Albania are decent and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they're a capable team so they'll be challenging.
"But you just feel that we're prepared for anyone at the moment and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."
Possible Play-off Semi-final Rivals Reviewed
The Welsh squad are placed 34th in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and Kosovo 84th.
Albania had a strong qualification run, with their only losses coming at the hands of Group K 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 former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their scoring chart in qualifying with 3 goals.
It is worth noting, the Albanians have never qualified for a World Cup, although they participated at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, not managing to advance to the last 16 on both times.
As Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid runs, with both not managing to win a qualifying match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.
The Switzerland finished the six-match campaign 3 points ahead of the Kosovans, whose single loss came at the hands of the pool winners.
Kosovo feature former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic top scorer – in a squad targeting a first major tournament appearance.
They have not yet played the Welsh team.
Bosnia lost only one time in qualifying, and claimed a points more than Wales achieved in their 8 games, but nonetheless ended two points behind of Group H 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 teams tied in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.
The Welsh have not managed to defeat the Bosnian side in 4 attempts but experienced a unforgettable loss against Zmajevi as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite losing.
Being his nation's all-time leading scorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's standout player.
The veteran was his squad's leading goalscorer in qualifying with five goals.
Lastly, we have Ireland.
After secured just one point from their first 3 qualifiers, Heimir HallgrÃmsson's side stormed into the play-offs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott netted both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to take second spot in Group F in dramatic fashion.
Talisman Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his side's resurgence while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting jersey his own.
Ireland are winless in their past four encounters with the Welsh, losing three of those, though James McClean broke the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.
