Wales Set to Challenge Anybody in FIFA World Cup Qualifying Draw
Wales have secured eight of their recent sixteen matches under manager Craig Bellamy
The team's focus are firmly on the upcoming World Cup playoff draw as they await learning their semi-final and potential final challengers.
After ended second in their qualifying group following a commanding 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – the side will host the semifinal match on their own turf.
They will meet either the Albanian side, Bosnia, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.
Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw feels the Dragons will relish a match against any opponent following their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mindset is 'bring on whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw commented.
"A lot of people were saying recently, 'should we really want Republic of Ireland as it's that derby atmosphere?'. In my view a number of supporters didn't. But for me, that would be amazing.
"So it's that type of situation, indeed, we're ready for the Kosovans or the Bosnians and Albania are not bad and Ireland, of course, they're a strong team so they'll be tough.
"But you just feel that we'll take anybody at the moment and it doesn't matter, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."
Potential Play-off Semifinal Rivals Evaluated
The Welsh squad sit thirty-fourth in the world rankings, with Albania sixty-first, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia 75th and Kosovo eighty-fourth.
Albania had a impressive qualification campaign, with their only losses coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed maximum points without conceding a single goal.
Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's prominent players, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their scoring tally in the qualifiers with 3 goals.
It is worth noting, Albania have not yet qualified for a FIFA World Cup, although they participated at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, not managing to reach the knockout stages on both times.
While Slovenia and Sweden endured poor runs, with both not managing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.
The Switzerland ended the six-match qualifiers three points ahead of Kosovo, whose one defeat was at the hands of the group winners.
Kosovo include former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic leading goalscorer – in a team aiming for a first major tournament appearance.
They have not yet played the Welsh team.
Bosnia were defeated only one time in qualifying, and earned a point additional than Wales managed in their 8 games, but still ended two points adrift of Group H winners Austria.
They were a quarter of an hour away from securing a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians meant the teams drew in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the pool.
Wales have failed to beat the Bosnian side in 4 matches but did have a unforgettable defeat against the Dragons as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.
Being his nation's historic leading scorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player.
The 39-year-old was his squad's top scorer in qualifying with 5 goals.
Lastly, we have Ireland.
Having taken just one point from their first three matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged 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 hat-trick – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to take second place in their group in dramatic fashion.
Key player Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his team's revival while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting position his to keep.
The Republic of Ireland are winless in their past 4 meetings with Wales, defeated in three of these, though James McClean broke the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.