The Welsh team Prepared to Face Anyone in World Cup Qualifying Draw
Wales have won eight of their previous sixteen matches under manager Craig Bellamy
Wales' attention are squarely on Thursday's World Cup play-off draw as they prepare for learning their semifinal and possible final rivals.
After finished second in their qualifying group thanks to a dominant 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – the side will host the semifinal encounter on home soil.
They will meet either the Albanian side, Bosnia, Kosovo or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.
Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw thinks the Welsh squad will welcome a tie against whichever team after their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mentality is 'give us whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw said.
"Many fans were asking last night, 'should we really want Republic of Ireland as it's that derby atmosphere?'. In my view a number of supporters didn't. But personally, that could be amazing.
"It's one of those, yes, we'll take Kosovo or Bosnia and the Albanians are competitive and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they're a strong team so it will be tough.
"However the sense is that we're prepared for anybody right now and we're confident, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."
Possible Play-off Semifinal Opponents Evaluated
Wales sit 34th in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.
The Albanian national team enjoyed a strong qualifying run, with their sole defeats suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who secured full points without conceding a single goal.
Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's recognizable names, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their goal tally in the qualifiers with 3 goals.
Importantly, the Albanians have never qualified for a World Cup, although they featured at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, not managing to reach the last 16 on each occasions.
While Slovenia and Sweden endured poor runs, with each failing to win a qualification match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.
The Swiss finished the six-game campaign three points clear of Kosovo, whose single loss came at the hands of the pool winners.
The Kosovan squad include former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time top scorer – in a team targeting a first international competition appearance.
They have never faced Wales.
Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated only one time in the qualifiers, and claimed a point additional than Wales managed in their 8 games, but nonetheless ended two points adrift of their group winners Austria.
They were 13 minutes away from securing a place at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians ensured the teams tied in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the pool.
The Welsh have failed to beat the Bosnians in four attempts but experienced a unforgettable loss against the Dragons as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after losing.
Being his nation's all-time leading scorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's star player.
The 39-year-old was his team's leading goalscorer in qualifying with five goals.
And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.
After secured only a single point from their opening three matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the play-offs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott netted the two 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 stunned Hungary to take runner-up spot in their group in thrilling style.
Talisman Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his side's resurgence while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting position his to keep.
Ireland are without a win in their past 4 meetings with the Welsh, losing three of those, although James McClean broke the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.
