Wales Ready to Take on Anyone in World Cup Playoff Fixture
The team has won eight of their recent 16 matches under coach Craig Bellamy
Wales' attention are squarely on Thursday's World Cup playoff fixture as they prepare for discovering their semifinal and potential final opponents.
Having ended second in their qualifying group following a commanding 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – Wales will play the semifinal encounter on home soil.
They will meet either the Albanian side, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that match on 26 March.
Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw believes the Dragons will relish a tie against whichever team following their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mentality is 'bring on whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw commented.
"Many supporters were wondering last night, 'should we actually want Ireland because of that local atmosphere?'. In my view many people didn't. But for me, that would be fantastic.
"It's that type of situation, yes, we're ready for the Kosovans or the Bosnians and Albania are competitive and Republic of Ireland, of course, they're a very good team so it will be tough.
"However the sense is that we're prepared for anyone right now and we're confident, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."
Potential Playoff Semifinal Rivals Assessed
Wales are placed 34th in the world standings, with Albania sixty-first, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.
The Albanian national team had a impressive qualification run, with their sole losses suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who secured full points without allowing a solitary goal.
The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's more notable players, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their scoring tally in qualifying with 3 goals.
It is worth noting, the Albanians have never qualified for a World Cup, though they featured at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, not managing to reach the last 16 on both times.
While Slovenia and Sweden had difficult runs, with both failing to win a qualifying match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.
The Switzerland ended the six-match campaign three points clear of the Kosovans, whose one defeat was at the hands of the pool winners.
The Kosovan squad feature ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time leading goalscorer – in a team targeting a first international competition appearance.
They have not yet played Wales.
Bosnia were defeated only one time in qualifying, and claimed a point additional than Wales achieved in their 8 games, but nonetheless finished two points behind of Group H winners Austria.
They were 13 minutes away from securing a place at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the pair tied in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the pool.
Wales have failed to beat the Bosnian side in 4 attempts but experienced a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite losing.
As his nation's all-time top goalscorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's standout player.
The veteran was his team's leading goalscorer in qualifying with five goals.
Lastly, we have Ireland.
After secured only a single point from their opening 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the play-offs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott scored both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to take runner-up place in Group F in dramatic fashion.
Key player Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his side's revival while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one position his own.
Ireland are winless in their past four encounters with the Welsh, defeated in 3 of those, though James McClean shattered the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.
