Wales Prepared to Take on Anybody in FIFA World Cup Playoff Draw
Wales have won 8 of their previous 16 matches under manager Craig Bellamy
Wales' focus are firmly on Thursday's World Cup play-off draw as they await discovering their semifinal and potential final opponents.
After ended second in their qualification group thanks to a dominant 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – Wales will host the semifinal match on their own turf.
They will play against either the Albanian side, Bosnia, Kosovo or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.
Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will embrace a match against any team following their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mindset is 'bring on whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw commented.
"A lot of people were asking recently, 'should we really want Ireland as it's that local feel?'. In my view many people didn't. But personally, that would be amazing.
"It's that type of situation, yes, we'll take Kosovo or the Bosnians and the Albanians are decent and Republic of Ireland, of course, they're a capable team so they'll be tough.
"However you just feel that we'll take anybody right now and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy."
Possible Playoff Semifinal Opponents Evaluated
The Welsh squad are placed 34th in the world rankings, with Albania 61st, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia 75th and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.
Albania enjoyed a solid qualifying campaign, with their only losses suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed maximum points without allowing a solitary goal.
The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's more notable players, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their scoring tally in the qualifiers with 3 goals.
Notably, the Albanians have not yet earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, though they featured at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, failing to advance to the last 16 on both occasions.
While Slovenia and Sweden endured difficult runs, with each failing to win a qualification match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.
The Switzerland ended the six-match campaign 3 points clear of Kosovo, whose one loss 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 nation's historic leading goalscorer – in a squad aiming for a maiden international competition appearance.
They have never faced Wales.
Bosnia-Herzegovina lost just once in qualifying, and claimed a point additional than the Welsh achieved in their eight games, but still ended 2 points adrift of Group H winners Austria.
They were a quarter of an hour away from securing a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians ensured the teams tied in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.
The Welsh have not managed to defeat the Bosnian side in 4 attempts but experienced a unforgettable loss against the Dragons as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.
Being his country's historic top goalscorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's standout player.
The veteran was his team's top scorer in the qualifiers with five goals.
Lastly, we have Ireland.
After secured just one point from their first 3 qualifiers, Heimir HallgrÃmsson's side surged into the play-offs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott netted both 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 fashion.
Talisman Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his team's resurgence while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting position his own.
The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their past 4 meetings with Wales, defeated in 3 of these, although James McClean broke the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.
