Wales Ready to Take on Anybody in World Cup Playoff Draw
Wales have won eight of their previous sixteen matches with manager Craig Bellamy
Wales' sights are squarely on Thursday's World Cup play-off draw as they await learning their semifinal and potential final opponents.
After finished second in their qualifying pool following a commanding 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – the side will host the semifinal match on their own turf.
They will play against either Albania, Bosnia, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.
Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will relish a tie against any opponent following their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his approach is 'give us anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw said.
"Many fans were saying recently, 'do we actually want Republic of Ireland as it's that derby atmosphere?'. I think a number of people didn't. But for me, that could be fantastic.
"So it's that type of situation, yes, we'll take the Kosovans or the Bosnians and the Albanians are decent and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they are a very good team so it will be tough.
"However you just feel that we're prepared for anybody at the moment and we're confident, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."
Possible Playoff Semi-final Rivals Assessed
Wales are placed 34th in the world rankings, with the Albanian team 61st, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.
Albania had a strong qualification run, with their only defeats suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured maximum points without allowing a solitary goal.
The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's recognizable names, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their scoring tally in the qualifiers with three goals.
It is worth noting, the Albanians have never earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, though they participated at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, failing to advance to the last 16 on both times.
While 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 Swiss finished the six-match qualifiers 3 points ahead of the Kosovans, whose one defeat was at the hands of the group winners.
The Kosovan squad feature ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time top scorer – in a team aiming for a first international competition appearance.
They have not yet faced Wales.
Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated just once in the qualifiers, and claimed a points additional than Wales achieved in their 8 games, but nonetheless finished 2 points adrift of their group winners Austria.
They were a quarter of an hour away from clinching a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the teams drew in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.
The Welsh have failed to defeat the Bosnian side in four attempts but did have a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.
Being his country's all-time leading scorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player.
The veteran was his team's top scorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.
Lastly, we have Ireland.
Having taken only a single point from their opening 3 qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the play-offs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott scored both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to take second place in Group F in thrilling style.
Talisman Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his side's revival while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting position his to keep.
The Republic of Ireland are winless in their last 4 encounters with the Welsh, defeated in three of those, though James McClean shattered the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.
