The Welsh team Prepared to Challenge Anyone in World Cup Qualifying Fixture
The team has won 8 of their last 16 matches with manager Craig Bellamy
Wales' focus are firmly on Thursday's World Cup play-off fixture as they await discovering their semi-final and possible final opponents.
After ended as runners-up in their qualifying group following a commanding 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – Wales will host the semifinal encounter on home soil.
They will play against either the Albanian side, Bosnia, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.
Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw believes the Dragons will embrace a tie against any opponent following their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mentality is 'give us whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw said.
"A lot of supporters were wondering last night, 'should we really want Republic of Ireland because of that local atmosphere?'. I think many people were hesitant. But personally, that would be fantastic.
"It's that type of situation, yes, we'll take Kosovo or Bosnia and Albania are competitive and Ireland, naturally, they're a capable team so it will be challenging.
"But you just feel that we're prepared for anyone right now and we're confident, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."
Possible Playoff Semi-final Rivals Assessed
The Welsh squad are placed 34th in the FIFA rankings, with Albania 61st, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.
The Albanian national team enjoyed a solid qualifying campaign, with their only losses suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who claimed full points without conceding a solitary goal.
Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's recognizable names, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their goal tally in qualifying with 3 goals.
Importantly, the Albanians have never qualified for a World Cup, although they featured at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, not managing to reach the last 16 on each times.
While Slovenia and Sweden had torrid runs, with both failing to win a qualification match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.
The Swiss ended the six-match qualifiers three points ahead of Kosovo, whose single defeat came at the hands of the group winners.
The Kosovan squad feature ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time top scorer – in a team targeting a maiden major tournament appearance.
They have not yet played the Welsh team.
Bosnia were defeated just once in the qualifiers, and earned a points additional than Wales managed in their 8 games, but still finished 2 points adrift of Group H winners Austria.
They were a quarter of an hour away from clinching a place at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians ensured the pair tied in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.
The Welsh have failed to beat the Bosnians in 4 matches but experienced a memorable loss against Zmajevi as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after losing.
As his country's all-time top goalscorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's standout player.
The veteran was his squad's leading goalscorer in qualifying with five goals.
And finally, we have Ireland.
After secured just one point from their opening three matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the playoffs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott scored the two goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a hat-trick – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to secure second place in their group in thrilling style.
Key player Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his side's resurgence while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one position his own.
Ireland are without a win in their last four encounters with the Welsh, defeated in 3 of those, though James McClean broke the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.
