Craig Bellamy's squad Set to Challenge Anybody in World Cup Qualifying Draw
Wales have secured eight of their recent 16 matches with coach Craig Bellamy
Wales' sights are squarely on Thursday's World Cup play-off fixture as they prepare for learning their semifinal and possible final challengers.
After finished second in their qualifying group following a commanding 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – the side will play the semifinal encounter 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.
Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw believes the Welsh squad will embrace a tie against any team following their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mentality is 'bring on whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw stated.
"Many people were wondering last night, 'should we actually want Republic of Ireland because of that local atmosphere?'. I think a number of supporters were hesitant. But personally, that could be amazing.
"It's one of those, indeed, we'll take the Kosovans or the Bosnians and Albania are not bad and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they're a very good team so they'll be tough.
"But the sense is that we're prepared for anyone right now and we're confident, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy."
Potential Playoff Semi-final Opponents Assessed
Wales are placed 34th in the world rankings, with Albania 61st, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia 75th and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.
The Albanian national team enjoyed a solid qualification run, with their only defeats coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed maximum points without conceding a solitary goal.
The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's more notable names, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their goal chart in the qualifiers with three goals.
It is worth noting, Albania have never qualified for a World Cup, though they featured at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, not managing to advance to the knockout stages on both times.
As Slovenia and Sweden had poor campaigns, with each failing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.
The Switzerland finished the six-game qualifiers 3 points clear of Kosovo, whose single loss came at the hands of the group winners.
The Kosovan squad include former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time top scorer – in a squad targeting a first major tournament appearance.
They have never played the Welsh team.
Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated just once in qualifying, and claimed a points more than Wales managed in their 8 games, but still finished 2 points behind of Group H winners Austria.
They were 13 minutes away from clinching a place at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the teams tied in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the pool.
The Welsh have not managed to beat the Bosnian side in 4 matches but did have a unforgettable loss against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.
Being his country's all-time leading scorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's star player.
The 39-year-old was his team's top scorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.
And finally, we have Ireland.
Having taken only a single point from their first 3 qualifiers, Heimir HallgrĂmsson's side surged 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 dramatic style.
Talisman Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his team's revival while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one position his own.
Ireland are winless in their past four encounters with the Welsh, defeated in three of these, though James McClean broke the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.
