The Welsh team Set to Take on Anybody in World Cup Play-off Draw
The team has won 8 of their recent sixteen matches under manager Craig Bellamy
Wales' attention are firmly on the upcoming World Cup playoff fixture as they prepare for discovering their semi-final and potential final opponents.
After finished second in their qualification group thanks to a decisive 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – Wales will host the semifinal encounter on their own turf.
They will play against either the Albanian side, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.
Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw believes the Welsh squad will relish a match against whichever team following their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mentality is 'bring on anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw stated.
"Many supporters were wondering recently, 'should we really want Republic of Ireland as it's that derby atmosphere?'. In my view a number of people didn't. But for me, that would be amazing.
"It's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take Kosovo or Bosnia and the Albanians are decent and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they are a very good team so it will be difficult.
"However you just feel that we're prepared for anyone at the moment and we're confident, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."
Possible Play-off Semifinal Opponents Assessed
The Welsh squad sit thirty-fourth in the world standings, with the Albanian team 61st, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side 84th.
Albania enjoyed a solid qualification run, with their sole losses suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who claimed full points without conceding a single goal.
The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's recognizable players, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their scoring tally in qualifying with 3 goals.
Importantly, the Albanians have not yet earned a spot for a World Cup, though they featured at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, failing to advance to the knockout stages on both occasions.
As Slovenia and Sweden had poor runs, with both not managing to win a qualification match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.
The Swiss finished the six-match qualifiers three points ahead of Kosovo, whose one defeat was at the hands of the pool winners.
Kosovo feature ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time top scorer – in a team targeting a maiden international competition appearance.
They have not yet faced the Welsh team.
Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated only one time in the qualifiers, and claimed a points additional than the Welsh achieved in their 8 games, but still ended two points behind of their group winners Austria.
They were 13 minutes away from clinching a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians meant the teams drew in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the pool.
Wales have failed to beat the Bosnians in four attempts but experienced a memorable loss against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.
Being his nation's all-time leading scorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player.
The 39-year-old was his team's leading goalscorer in the qualifiers with five goals.
Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.
After 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 both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to take runner-up place in their group in dramatic style.
Key player Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his side's resurgence while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting position his own.
The Republic of Ireland are winless in their past 4 meetings with the Welsh, losing three of these, though James McClean shattered the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.
