Craig Bellamy's squad Ready to Challenge Whichever Opponent in FIFA World Cup Playoff Fixture

Wales football team celebration

The team has secured 8 of their recent sixteen matches with coach Craig Bellamy

Wales' attention are firmly on the upcoming World Cup play-off draw as they prepare for learning their semi-final and potential final rivals.

Having ended as runners-up in their qualification pool following a commanding 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – the side will host the semi-final encounter on home soil.

They will meet either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo or Republic of Ireland in that match on 26 March.

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Dragons will welcome a tie against any opponent following their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mentality is 'bring on whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw said.

"A lot of people were saying last night, 'should we really want Republic of Ireland because of that local atmosphere?'. In my view a number of supporters were hesitant. But personally, that could be fantastic.

"So it's one of those, indeed, we're ready for the Kosovans or the Bosnians and the Albanians are decent and Ireland, naturally, they're a very good team so it will be tough.

"But you just feel that we'll take anybody at the moment and we're confident, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semi-final Rivals Evaluated

Wales are placed thirty-fourth in the world rankings, with Albania 61st, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia 75th and the Kosovan side 84th.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a solid qualification campaign, with their sole losses coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured full points without allowing a single goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's prominent names, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their scoring tally in the qualifiers with 3 goals.

Notably, Albania have not yet earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, though they featured at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, failing to advance to the knockout stages on each occasions.

While Slovenia and Sweden had difficult runs, with each not managing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Swiss finished the six-match campaign 3 points clear of Kosovo, whose single defeat came at the hands of the group winners.

The Kosovan squad include former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time leading goalscorer – in a team targeting a maiden major tournament appearance.

They have not yet played Wales.

Bosnia were defeated only one time in qualifying, and claimed a points additional than the Welsh achieved in their eight games, but nonetheless ended 2 points adrift of Group H winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from securing a place at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the teams drew in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.

The Welsh have not managed to defeat the Bosnians in four matches but did have a memorable loss against the Dragons as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

Being his nation's all-time leading scorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's star player.

The 39-year-old was his team's leading goalscorer in qualifying with five goals.

Lastly, we have Ireland.

After secured just one point from their first 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the playoffs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to take second spot in Group F in dramatic fashion.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his side's revival while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one jersey his to keep.

Ireland are without a win in their last four encounters with Wales, defeated in 3 of those, although James McClean shattered the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.

Roberto Arnold
Roberto Arnold

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