Wales Ready to Face Anybody in FIFA World Cup Playoff Draw
Wales have won eight of their last 16 matches under coach Craig Bellamy
Wales' sights are firmly on Thursday's World Cup playoff fixture as they await discovering their semi-final and potential final challengers.
After finished 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 semi-final match on their own turf.
They will meet either the Albanian side, Bosnia, Kosovo or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.
Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Dragons will welcome a tie against any team after their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mindset is 'give us anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw commented.
"A lot of people were saying last night, 'should we actually want Ireland because of that local feel?'. I think many people were hesitant. But personally, that could be amazing.
"It's that type of situation, yes, we're ready for the Kosovans or the Bosnians and the Albanians are decent and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they're a very good team so it will be challenging.
"However you just feel that we're prepared for anybody right now and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."
Possible Playoff Semi-final Opponents Evaluated
The Welsh squad sit 34th in the FIFA standings, with Albania sixty-first, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and Kosovo 84th.
The Albanian national team had a solid qualifying campaign, with their sole losses suffered 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 among the Red and Blacks's prominent players, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their goal chart in qualifying with 3 goals.
Notably, Albania have not yet earned a spot for a World Cup, though they featured at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, failing to advance to the last 16 on both occasions.
As Slovenia and Sweden endured difficult campaigns, with both not managing to win a qualification match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.
The Swiss finished the six-game qualifiers 3 points ahead of the Kosovans, whose one loss came at the hands of the pool winners.
The Kosovan squad feature former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time top scorer – in a team aiming for a first international competition appearance.
They have never played Wales.
Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated just once in the qualifiers, and earned a point more than the Welsh managed in their eight games, but nonetheless finished 2 points behind of their group winners Austria.
They were 13 minutes away from securing a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians ensured the pair drew in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.
Wales have not managed to beat the Bosnian side in 4 matches but experienced a unforgettable loss against the Dragons as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.
As his nation's historic leading scorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player.
The 39-year-old was his team's leading goalscorer in the qualifiers with five goals.
And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.
Having taken just one point from their first 3 qualifiers, Heimir HallgrĂmsson's side stormed into the playoffs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott scored both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a hat-trick – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to secure second place in Group F in dramatic fashion.
Key player Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his team's resurgence while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting position his own.
The Republic of Ireland are winless in their last 4 meetings with Wales, losing 3 of those, 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.
