Wales Ready to Challenge Anybody in FIFA World Cup Play-off Draw
Wales have won 8 of their last sixteen matches under coach Craig Bellamy
The team's attention are squarely on Thursday's World Cup play-off draw as they await learning their semi-final and potential final rivals.
Having ended as runners-up in their qualification pool following a decisive 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – the side will host the semifinal encounter on their own turf.
They will play against either the Albanian side, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Kosovan team or Republic of Ireland in that match on 26 March.
Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw thinks the Welsh squad will relish a tie against any opponent 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 whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw stated.
"Many supporters were wondering last night, 'do we actually want Republic of Ireland as it's that local atmosphere?'. In my view many people didn't. But for me, that could be amazing.
"So it's that type of situation, yes, we're ready for Kosovo or the Bosnians and Albania are competitive and Republic of Ireland, of course, they're a strong team so they'll be challenging.
"However you just feel that we'll take anybody at the moment and we're confident, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."
Possible Play-off Semi-final Opponents Reviewed
Wales are placed thirty-fourth in the FIFA standings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and the Kosovan side 84th.
The Albanian national team enjoyed a solid qualification campaign, with their sole losses suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who secured full points without allowing a solitary goal.
Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's recognizable players, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their goal chart in qualifying with 3 goals.
Notably, Albania have not yet qualified for a FIFA World Cup, though they featured at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, failing to advance to the last 16 on each times.
While Slovenia and Sweden had torrid runs, with both not managing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.
The Swiss ended the six-game qualifiers three points ahead of Kosovo, whose one defeat came at the hands of the pool winners.
The Kosovan squad feature ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time top scorer – in a squad aiming for a maiden major tournament appearance.
They have not yet played the Welsh team.
Bosnia lost just once in qualifying, and claimed a points more than Wales managed in their eight games, but still ended two points behind of Group H winners Austria.
They were 13 minutes away from securing a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians meant the teams drew in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.
The Welsh have failed to defeat the Bosnian side in four matches but experienced a memorable loss against the Dragons as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite losing.
Being his country's all-time leading scorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's standout player.
The 39-year-old was his team's leading goalscorer in the qualifiers with five goals.
Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.
After secured 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 scored the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a hat-trick – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to take runner-up spot in Group F in thrilling style.
Talisman Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his side's resurgence while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting jersey his to keep.
The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their last four encounters with the Welsh, losing 3 of these, though James McClean broke the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.