Craig Bellamy's squad Set to Face Whichever Opponent in FIFA World Cup Playoff Draw
The team has won eight of their recent sixteen matches with manager Craig Bellamy
Wales' focus are squarely on the upcoming World Cup play-off draw as they prepare for discovering their semi-final and potential final challengers.
Having ended as runners-up in their qualification pool following a commanding 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – the side will play the semifinal match on their own turf.
They will meet either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that match on 26 March.
Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw thinks the Welsh squad will embrace a match against whichever opponent after their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mindset is 'give us anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw stated.
"Many supporters were asking recently, 'should we really want Republic of Ireland as it's that local atmosphere?'. In my view many people were hesitant. But personally, that could be amazing.
"So it's one of those, yes, we'll take Kosovo or the Bosnians and the Albanians are competitive and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they're a strong team so they'll be challenging.
"But you just feel that we're prepared for anyone at the moment and we're confident, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."
Possible Playoff Semifinal Opponents Assessed
The Welsh squad sit 34th in the FIFA rankings, with Albania 61st, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and Kosovo eighty-fourth.
Albania had a impressive qualifying run, with their sole losses suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who secured full points without conceding a solitary goal.
Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's prominent names, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their scoring tally in qualifying with three goals.
Notably, the Albanians have not yet earned a spot for a World Cup, although they featured at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, not managing to reach the knockout stages on both times.
While Slovenia and Sweden endured poor runs, with each failing to win a qualification match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.
The Swiss finished the six-match campaign three points ahead of Kosovo, whose one loss came at the hands of the group winners.
Kosovo feature former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time leading goalscorer – in a squad aiming for a first major tournament appearance.
They have not yet played the Welsh team.
Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated just once in the qualifiers, and claimed a points additional than the Welsh achieved in their eight games, but nonetheless finished two points behind of their group winners Austria.
They were 13 minutes away from clinching a place at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the pair tied in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.
The Welsh have failed to beat the Bosnian side in 4 matches but did have a unforgettable loss against Zmajevi as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.
Being his nation's historic leading scorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player.
The 39-year-old was his squad's leading goalscorer in the qualifiers with five goals.
And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.
Having secured only a single point from their opening 3 matches, Heimir HallgrĂmsson's side stormed into the playoffs with successive 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 coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to take runner-up place in Group F in dramatic style.
Key player Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his team's resurgence while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one position his to keep.
Ireland are without a win in their past 4 meetings with the Welsh, losing 3 of these, although James McClean shattered the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.
