Wales Ready to Take on Anyone in World Cup Qualifying Fixture
Wales have won 8 of their last 16 matches with coach Craig Bellamy
Wales' sights are firmly on Thursday's World Cup playoff fixture as they prepare for discovering their semi-final and potential final rivals.
After finished second in their qualifying group thanks to a decisive 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – Wales will host the semi-final match on their own turf.
They will play against either the Albanian side, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.
Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw believes the Dragons will embrace a match against any opponent after their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his approach is 'bring on whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw said.
"Many supporters were wondering last night, 'do we actually want Republic of Ireland because of that derby atmosphere?'. In my view a number of supporters didn't. But for me, that would be fantastic.
"So it's that type of situation, yes, we're ready for Kosovo or Bosnia and Albania are competitive and Ireland, naturally, they're a very good team so it will be challenging.
"But you just feel that we'll take anybody at the moment and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."
Possible Play-off Semi-final Opponents Reviewed
The Welsh squad sit thirty-fourth in the world standings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and Kosovo eighty-fourth.
Albania enjoyed a strong qualifying run, with their only defeats coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured full points without allowing a single goal.
The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's recognizable players, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their goal chart in qualifying with 3 goals.
It is worth noting, Albania have not yet earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, though they featured at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, failing to advance to the knockout stages on both occasions.
While Slovenia and Sweden endured poor campaigns, with each failing to win a qualification match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.
The Swiss ended the six-game qualifiers three points clear of the Kosovans, 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 nation's historic top scorer – in a team aiming for a maiden international competition appearance.
They have never faced Wales.
Bosnia-Herzegovina lost just once in qualifying, and claimed a points more than the Welsh managed in their eight games, but nonetheless ended two points behind of their group winners Austria.
They were 13 minutes away from clinching a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the pair drew in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.
Wales have not managed to defeat the Bosnians in 4 matches but did have a memorable loss against Zmajevi as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after losing.
As his nation's historic leading scorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's standout player.
The veteran was his team's top scorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.
Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.
Having taken just one point from their opening three qualifiers, Heimir HallgrÃmsson's side stormed into the playoffs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott netted both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to take second spot in their group in thrilling style.
Talisman Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his team's revival while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one jersey his to keep.
The Republic of Ireland are winless in their past 4 meetings with Wales, losing 3 of those, though James McClean broke the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.
