The Welsh team Ready to Take on Whichever Opponent in World Cup Playoff Fixture
Wales have secured eight of their last sixteen matches under manager Craig Bellamy
The team's focus are firmly on the upcoming World Cup playoff fixture as they await learning their semifinal and possible final challengers.
Having finished second in their qualifying group following a commanding 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – the side will play the semifinal match on their own turf.
They will face either Albania, Bosnia, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.
Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will embrace a match against any opponent following their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mindset is 'bring on whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw stated.
"Many supporters were asking last night, 'should we actually want Ireland because of that derby feel?'. In my view many people didn't. But personally, that could be fantastic.
"So it's that type of situation, yes, we'll take the Kosovans or Bosnia and the Albanians are not bad and Ireland, naturally, they are a capable team so it will be difficult.
"However you just feel that we're prepared for anyone at the moment and it doesn't matter, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."
Potential Play-off Semifinal Opponents Assessed
The Welsh squad are placed 34th in the FIFA standings, with Albania sixty-first, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side 84th.
The Albanian national team had a strong qualifying run, with their only losses coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured maximum points without conceding a single goal.
Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's more notable names, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their scoring chart in qualifying with 3 goals.
Importantly, the Albanians have never qualified for a World Cup, though they featured at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, failing to advance to the last 16 on each times.
As Slovenia and Sweden endured difficult runs, with both failing to win a qualifying match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.
The Switzerland finished the six-game campaign 3 points ahead of Kosovo, whose one loss was at the hands of the pool winners.
Kosovo include ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic top scorer – in a squad targeting a first major tournament appearance.
They have never faced Wales.
Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated only one time in the qualifiers, and earned a point more than Wales achieved in their eight games, but nonetheless ended two points behind of their group 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 qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.
Wales have failed to defeat the Bosnian side in 4 matches but did have a memorable loss against the Dragons as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.
Being his nation's all-time leading scorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's standout player.
The 39-year-old was his team's top scorer in the qualifiers with five goals.
Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.
Having secured only a single point from their first 3 matches, Heimir HallgrÃmsson's side surged into the play-offs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott netted the two goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a hat-trick – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to secure runner-up spot in Group F in thrilling style.
Talisman Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his side's revival while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting position his own.
The Republic of Ireland are winless in their past 4 meetings with the Welsh, defeated in 3 of these, though James McClean broke the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.