Craig Bellamy's squad Prepared to Take on Anybody in FIFA World Cup Qualifying Fixture
Wales have won eight of their last sixteen matches with manager Craig Bellamy
The team's focus are squarely on the upcoming World Cup play-off fixture as they prepare for learning their semifinal and possible final opponents.
After ended as runners-up in their qualification pool following a decisive 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – Wales will play the semi-final match on home soil.
They will play against either Albania, Bosnia, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that match on 26 March.
Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw believes the Dragons will welcome a match against whichever opponent after their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mentality is 'give us whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw commented.
"A lot of supporters were asking recently, 'should we actually want Ireland as it's that local atmosphere?'. I think many supporters didn't. But personally, that could be fantastic.
"It's one of those, yes, we're ready for Kosovo or Bosnia and Albania are not bad and Ireland, of course, they're a capable team so they'll be tough.
"But the sense is that we'll take anyone right now and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."
Potential Playoff Semifinal Opponents Assessed
The Welsh squad are placed thirty-fourth in the FIFA standings, with Albania 61st, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and Kosovo eighty-fourth.
Albania enjoyed a impressive qualifying run, with their only defeats suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who secured maximum points without allowing a solitary goal.
Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's recognizable names, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their scoring chart in qualifying with three goals.
Importantly, Albania have not yet qualified for a World Cup, although they participated at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, not managing to advance to the knockout stages on both times.
As Slovenia and Sweden endured difficult runs, with each failing to win a qualification match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.
The Swiss ended the six-match campaign 3 points clear of Kosovo, whose one defeat was at the hands of the pool winners.
The Kosovan squad include ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic top scorer – in a squad targeting a first international competition appearance.
They have never played Wales.
Bosnia lost only one time in the qualifiers, and earned a point additional than Wales managed in their 8 games, but nonetheless ended two points behind of their group 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 meant the pair tied in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.
Wales have failed to defeat the Bosnian side in 4 matches but did have a unforgettable defeat against Zmajevi as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite losing.
Being his country's all-time top goalscorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's key player.
The 39-year-old was his squad's top scorer in qualifying with five goals.
And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.
After secured only a single point from their first 3 qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the play-offs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott scored the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to take second spot in Group F in thrilling fashion.
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 to keep.
The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their last 4 encounters 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 decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.
