Wales Ready to Challenge Anybody in World Cup Qualifying Fixture
Wales have secured eight of their recent sixteen matches with coach Craig Bellamy
The team's sights are firmly on Thursday's World Cup playoff fixture as they await discovering their semi-final and possible final rivals.
After ended as runners-up in their qualifying pool following a decisive 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – the side will play the semifinal encounter on home soil.
They will meet either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that match on 26 March.
Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw believes the Dragons will welcome a tie against any opponent following their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mindset is 'bring on anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw said.
"Many people were asking last night, 'do we actually want Ireland as it's that local feel?'. In my view a number of supporters were hesitant. But for me, that could be amazing.
"It's that type of situation, yes, we'll take Kosovo or the Bosnians and Albania are competitive and Ireland, naturally, they are a strong team so they'll be challenging.
"However the sense is that we'll take anyone at the moment and it doesn't matter, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."
Potential Play-off Semifinal Opponents Reviewed
The Welsh squad sit thirty-fourth in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side 84th.
The Albanian national team had a strong qualification campaign, with their only 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 among the Red and Blacks's prominent players, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their goal chart in qualifying with three goals.
It is worth noting, the Albanians have never earned a spot for a World Cup, though they participated at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, failing to advance to the knockout stages on both times.
While 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 ended the six-match qualifiers 3 points ahead of Kosovo, whose one defeat 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 leading goalscorer – in a squad targeting a maiden international competition appearance.
They have never played Wales.
Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated just once in the qualifiers, and earned a points additional than Wales achieved in their 8 games, but nonetheless finished two points behind of their group winners Austria.
They were 13 minutes away from clinching a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians ensured the pair drew in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.
Wales have not managed to defeat the Bosnian side in 4 attempts but experienced a unforgettable loss against Zmajevi as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.
Being his country's historic top goalscorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's key player.
The 39-year-old was his team's leading goalscorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.
Lastly, we have Ireland.
Having taken just one point from their first three matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the playoffs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott netted the two goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to secure second place in their group in dramatic style.
Key player Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his team's revival while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting position his to keep.
Ireland are winless in their past four encounters with the Welsh, losing 3 of these, though James McClean shattered the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.
