Wales Prepared to Take on Whichever Opponent in FIFA World Cup Playoff Fixture
Wales have secured 8 of their last sixteen matches under coach Craig Bellamy
The team's attention are firmly on Thursday's World Cup play-off draw as they await learning their semi-final and potential final opponents.
Having finished second in their qualification group thanks to a commanding 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – the side will play the semifinal match on their own turf.
They will play against either the Albanian side, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo or Republic of Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.
Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw believes the Welsh squad will welcome a tie against whichever team after their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mentality is 'give us anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw stated.
"Many people were asking recently, 'should we actually want Republic of Ireland as it's that local feel?'. In my view a number of supporters were hesitant. But for me, that would be fantastic.
"It's that type of situation, yes, we'll take the Kosovans or Bosnia and the Albanians are decent and Republic of Ireland, of course, they are a capable team so it will be challenging.
"However you just feel that we'll take anyone at the moment and we're confident, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy."
Potential Play-off Semifinal Opponents Reviewed
Wales sit thirty-fourth in the world standings, with the Albanian team 61st, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and Kosovo 84th.
The Albanian national team enjoyed a strong qualification campaign, with their only defeats suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured maximum points without conceding a solitary goal.
Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's more notable players, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their goal chart in qualifying with 3 goals.
It is worth noting, the Albanians have never earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, although they participated at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, failing to advance to the last 16 on both times.
As Slovenia and Sweden had difficult campaigns, with both not managing to win a qualification match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.
The Switzerland ended the six-match campaign three points clear of the Kosovans, whose single defeat came at the hands of the pool winners.
The Kosovan squad include former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic top scorer – in a team aiming for a maiden major tournament appearance.
They have not yet played Wales.
Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated just once in qualifying, and claimed a point more than Wales managed in their 8 games, but nonetheless ended 2 points adrift of Group H winners Austria.
They were 13 minutes away from clinching a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians ensured the pair tied in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.
The Welsh have not managed to beat the Bosnian side in four attempts but experienced a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after losing.
Being his country's historic top goalscorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's standout player.
The veteran was his team's top scorer in qualifying with 5 goals.
Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.
Having taken just one point from their first three matches, 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 the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to take runner-up spot in Group F in thrilling fashion.
Talisman Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his team's revival while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one position his own.
Ireland are without a win in their past four encounters with the Welsh, defeated in 3 of these, although James McClean broke the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.