Wales Prepared to Face Anybody in World Cup Play-off Fixture
The team has won 8 of their recent 16 matches under manager Craig Bellamy
Wales' attention are squarely on the upcoming World Cup playoff fixture as they await discovering their semi-final and possible final opponents.
After finished as runners-up in their qualifying group thanks to a dominant 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – the side will host the semi-final match on home soil.
They will meet either the Albanian side, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo or Republic of Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.
Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw believes the Welsh squad will relish a match against whichever opponent following their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mindset is 'bring on whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw said.
"Many supporters were wondering last night, 'do we actually want Republic of Ireland because of that derby atmosphere?'. I think many supporters were hesitant. But for me, that would be fantastic.
"It's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take the Kosovans or Bosnia and the Albanians are not bad and Republic of Ireland, of course, they're a very good team so they'll be difficult.
"But you just feel that we're prepared for anybody at the moment and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."
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Wales are placed thirty-fourth in the world rankings, with Albania 61st, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia seventy-fifth and Kosovo eighty-fourth.
Albania had a strong qualification run, with their only losses coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured maximum points without allowing a single goal.
Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's recognizable players, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their scoring tally in qualifying with 3 goals.
Importantly, Albania have never qualified for a FIFA World Cup, though they featured at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, not managing to advance to the knockout stages on each occasions.
While Slovenia and Sweden endured difficult campaigns, with both not managing to win a qualifying match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.
The Switzerland ended the six-match qualifiers three points clear of the Kosovans, whose single defeat came at the hands of the group winners.
Kosovo feature ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic top scorer – in a squad targeting a first international competition appearance.
They have never played Wales.
Bosnia-Herzegovina lost just once in qualifying, and claimed a points more than Wales managed in their 8 games, but still ended 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 leveler for the Austrians ensured the pair tied in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.
The Welsh have not managed to defeat the Bosnians in 4 matches but did have a memorable loss against the Dragons as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.
Being his country's historic leading scorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's standout player.
The veteran was his squad's top scorer in the qualifiers with five goals.
Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.
After secured only a single point from their first 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the playoffs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott netted both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to take second spot in Group F in dramatic fashion.
Talisman Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his team's revival while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting position his own.
Ireland are without a win in their past four encounters with Wales, defeated in 3 of these, although James McClean shattered the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.
