Wales Set to Take on Anybody in World Cup Qualifying Fixture
The team has won 8 of their recent 16 matches under manager Craig Bellamy
The team's focus are firmly on the upcoming World Cup play-off draw as they prepare for discovering their semifinal and potential final opponents.
After finished as runners-up in their qualifying group following a dominant 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – Wales will play the semifinal match on their own turf.
They will meet either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Kosovan team or Republic of Ireland in that match on 26 March.
Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw believes the Dragons will relish a match against whichever opponent following their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mentality is 'give us anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw commented.
"A lot of people were saying last night, 'should we really want Republic of Ireland as it's that derby atmosphere?'. I think many people were hesitant. But for me, that could be fantastic.
"It's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take the Kosovans or the Bosnians and the Albanians are decent and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they are a strong team so it will be tough.
"But the sense is that we'll take anybody at the moment and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy."
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Wales are placed thirty-fourth in the FIFA standings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.
The Albanian national team had a strong qualification run, with their sole defeats suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed full points without allowing a single goal.
Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's more notable names, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their scoring tally in the qualifiers with three goals.
Notably, the Albanians have not yet qualified for a World Cup, though they featured at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, not managing to advance to the last 16 on each occasions.
While Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid runs, with both failing to win a qualification match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.
The Switzerland finished the six-game qualifiers three points clear of the Kosovans, whose single loss came at the hands of the group winners.
The Kosovan squad feature former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic top scorer – in a team targeting a first international competition appearance.
They have never played the Welsh team.
Bosnia lost only one time in the qualifiers, and earned a point additional than the Welsh achieved in their 8 games, but still ended two points behind 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 ensured the teams tied in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.
The Welsh have failed to defeat the Bosnian side in four attempts but did have a memorable defeat against Zmajevi as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after losing.
Being his nation's historic top goalscorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's key player.
The 39-year-old was his team's top scorer in the qualifiers with five goals.
Lastly, we have Ireland.
Having taken only a single point from their first three qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the playoffs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott scored the two goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to take runner-up place in Group F in thrilling fashion.
Talisman Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his team's revival while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one position his own.
The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their last four meetings with Wales, losing three of these, 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.
