Wales Ready to Take on Anybody in World Cup Playoff Draw
Wales have won eight of their recent sixteen matches with coach Craig Bellamy
Wales' attention are firmly on the upcoming World Cup playoff draw as they await discovering their semi-final and potential final opponents.
Having ended second in their qualifying group following a dominant 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – the side will host the semifinal encounter on home soil.
They will play against either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Kosovan team or Republic of Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.
Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Dragons will relish a match against any team following their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his approach is 'bring on whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw stated.
"A lot of people were saying last night, 'should we really want Ireland as it's that local feel?'. I think a number of supporters were hesitant. But for me, that could be incredible.
"It's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take the Kosovans or Bosnia and the Albanians are decent and Ireland, of course, they're a very good team so it will be tough.
"However the sense is that we're prepared for anybody right now and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."
Potential Playoff Semi-final Rivals Reviewed
Wales are placed thirty-fourth in the FIFA rankings, with Albania 61st, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and Kosovo eighty-fourth.
The Albanian national team enjoyed a strong qualification 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 among the Albanian squad's more notable players, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their goal chart in qualifying with three goals.
Notably, Albania have never qualified for a World Cup, though they featured at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, not managing to reach the last 16 on each occasions.
As Slovenia and Sweden endured poor runs, with both not managing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.
The Switzerland ended the six-match campaign three points ahead of the Kosovans, whose one loss was at the hands of the group winners.
Kosovo include former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic top scorer – in a squad aiming for a maiden international competition appearance.
They have not yet faced the Welsh team.
Bosnia lost just once in the qualifiers, and earned a points additional than the Welsh managed in their 8 games, but still ended 2 points behind of their group winners Austria.
They were a quarter of an hour away from clinching a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians meant the teams drew in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.
Wales have failed to beat the Bosnian side in four matches but did have a unforgettable defeat against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after losing.
As his country's all-time top goalscorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's standout player.
The veteran was his team's top scorer in qualifying with five goals.
Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.
After secured 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 netted the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a hat-trick – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to take runner-up place in their group in thrilling fashion.
Talisman Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his team's resurgence while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one jersey his own.
The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their last four encounters with Wales, defeated in three of these, though James McClean shattered the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.