The Welsh team Prepared to Challenge Anybody in FIFA World Cup Playoff Draw
Wales have won 8 of their previous sixteen matches under coach Craig Bellamy
The team's focus are squarely on the upcoming World Cup playoff draw as they prepare for discovering their semifinal and possible final rivals.
Having finished second in their qualification pool following a decisive 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – the side will host the semi-final encounter on home soil.
They will face either Albania, Bosnia, the Kosovan team or Republic of Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.
Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw thinks the Dragons will welcome a match against any team following their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his approach is 'give us anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw stated.
"A lot of people were saying recently, 'should we really want Republic of Ireland as it's that local atmosphere?'. In my view many people didn't. But for me, that could be incredible.
"So it's one of those, yes, we'll take the Kosovans or Bosnia and Albania are not bad and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they're a very good team so it will be challenging.
"But the sense is that we'll take anybody at the moment and we're confident, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy."
Possible Play-off Semi-final Opponents Reviewed
The Welsh squad are placed thirty-fourth in the world standings, with Albania sixty-first, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia seventy-fifth and Kosovo eighty-fourth.
Albania enjoyed a impressive qualification run, with their sole defeats coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed full points without conceding a single goal.
The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's more notable players, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their goal chart in the qualifiers with three goals.
Importantly, the Albanians have not yet qualified for a World Cup, though they participated at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, not managing to reach the knockout stages on each occasions.
As Slovenia and Sweden endured difficult campaigns, with both not managing to win a qualification match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.
The Switzerland finished the six-match campaign 3 points ahead of the Kosovans, whose one loss came at the hands of the group winners.
The Kosovan squad feature ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic leading goalscorer – in a team aiming for a maiden major tournament appearance.
They have never played the Welsh team.
Bosnia lost just once in qualifying, and earned a point more than Wales managed in their eight games, but still finished 2 points adrift of their group winners Austria.
They were a quarter of an hour away from securing 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 topped the group.
The Welsh have failed to defeat the Bosnian side in four attempts but experienced a memorable defeat against Zmajevi as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after losing.
Being his nation's all-time top goalscorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's standout player.
The veteran was his team's leading goalscorer in the qualifiers with five goals.
Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.
After secured just one point from their opening 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the play-offs 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 hat-trick – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to take second place in Group F in dramatic style.
Talisman Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his team's resurgence while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one jersey his own.
The Republic of Ireland are winless in their past four meetings with the Welsh, defeated in three of those, though James McClean broke the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.