Wales Set to Challenge Whichever Opponent in FIFA World Cup Playoff Fixture
Wales have won eight of their previous sixteen matches under coach Craig Bellamy
The team's focus are squarely on Thursday's World Cup play-off fixture as they await discovering their semi-final and possible final rivals.
After ended as runners-up in their qualification pool following a dominant 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – the side will host the semifinal encounter on home soil.
They will face either Albania, Bosnia, the Kosovan team or Republic of Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.
Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw thinks the Welsh squad will welcome a match against whichever team following their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his approach is 'give us anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw said.
"A lot of people were wondering recently, 'do we actually want Republic of Ireland as it's that local atmosphere?'. In my view a number of supporters didn't. But for me, that would be fantastic.
"It's one of those, yes, we're ready for Kosovo or the Bosnians and Albania are decent and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they're a strong team so it will be tough.
"However the sense is that we're prepared for anyone right now and we're confident, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy."
Possible Play-off Semifinal Opponents Assessed
The Welsh squad sit thirty-fourth in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and Kosovo 84th.
The Albanian national team enjoyed a strong qualification run, with their only losses suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured full points without allowing a single goal.
Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's recognizable players, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their goal tally in qualifying with three goals.
Importantly, Albania have never qualified for a FIFA World Cup, though they participated at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, not managing to advance to the last 16 on each occasions.
While Slovenia and Sweden had poor campaigns, with both not managing to win a qualification match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.
The Switzerland ended the six-game qualifiers 3 points ahead of Kosovo, whose one loss came at the hands of the pool winners.
Kosovo include former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time leading goalscorer – in a team aiming for a maiden major tournament appearance.
They have not yet faced the Welsh team.
Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated only one time in the qualifiers, and claimed a points more than the Welsh achieved in their 8 games, but nonetheless ended 2 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 ensured the pair drew in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.
Wales have failed to defeat the Bosnians in four attempts but experienced a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.
Being his nation's historic leading scorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player.
The 39-year-old was his team's top scorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.
And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.
Having taken only a single point from their opening 3 qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the play-offs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott netted the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to secure second spot in their group in thrilling fashion.
Key player Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his side's resurgence while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one position his to keep.
Ireland are without a win in their last four meetings with the Welsh, losing 3 of those, though James McClean shattered the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.