Craig Bellamy's squad Ready to Face Whichever Opponent in World Cup Qualifying Fixture
Wales have won 8 of their previous 16 matches with manager Craig Bellamy
Wales' attention are squarely on Thursday's World Cup playoff fixture as they await discovering their semifinal and potential final rivals.
After finished as runners-up in their qualification group following a commanding 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – the side will play the semifinal encounter on their own turf.
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 thinks the Dragons will embrace a tie against whichever team after their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mindset is 'bring on whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw stated.
"Many supporters were wondering last night, 'do we actually want Ireland as it's that local atmosphere?'. In my view a number of people were hesitant. But for me, that would be amazing.
"It's one of those, yes, we'll take the Kosovans or Bosnia and Albania are not bad and Ireland, naturally, they're a strong team so it will be tough.
"But the sense is that we're prepared for anybody at the moment and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy."
Potential Playoff Semifinal Rivals Evaluated
Wales sit thirty-fourth in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia 75th and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.
The Albanian national team enjoyed a strong qualifying campaign, with their only defeats coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed full points without conceding a single goal.
The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's prominent players, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their goal chart in qualifying with three goals.
Importantly, Albania have not yet earned a spot for a World Cup, though they participated at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, not managing to advance to the knockout stages on each times.
While Slovenia and Sweden had torrid runs, with each failing to win a qualification match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.
The Swiss ended the six-match qualifiers 3 points ahead of the Kosovans, whose one defeat was at the hands of the group winners.
The Kosovan squad feature former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time leading goalscorer – in a team targeting a first major tournament appearance.
They have not yet faced the Welsh team.
Bosnia-Herzegovina lost just once in qualifying, and earned a point additional than the Welsh achieved in their eight games, but nonetheless ended two points adrift of Group H winners Austria.
They were a quarter of an hour away from clinching a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the pair tied in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the pool.
Wales have failed to beat the Bosnians in 4 matches but experienced a unforgettable defeat against the Dragons as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.
Being his nation's all-time top goalscorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's key player.
The veteran was his squad's leading goalscorer in qualifying with 5 goals.
And finally, we have Ireland.
After secured only a single point from their opening 3 qualifiers, Heimir HallgrÃmsson's side surged into the play-offs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott netted the two goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to take second place in Group F in dramatic style.
Talisman Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his side's resurgence while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one jersey his to keep.
Ireland are winless in their last 4 encounters with Wales, losing 3 of those, although 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.
