Wales Ready to Take on Whichever Opponent in World Cup Play-off Draw
The team has secured 8 of their previous sixteen matches under manager Craig Bellamy
The team's focus are squarely on the upcoming World Cup play-off fixture as they prepare for discovering their semi-final and potential final rivals.
After finished second in their qualification pool thanks to a commanding 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – Wales will play the semi-final match on home soil.
They will play against either Albania, Bosnia, the Kosovan team or Republic of Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.
Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw thinks the Welsh squad will welcome a match against any team after their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his approach is 'bring on anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw said.
"A lot of supporters were saying last night, 'do we really want Republic of Ireland as it's that local atmosphere?'. In my view a number of people were hesitant. But personally, that could be amazing.
"It's that type of situation, indeed, we're ready for Kosovo or Bosnia and Albania are not bad and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they're a very good team so they'll be tough.
"But you just feel that we're prepared for anybody right now and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy."
Possible Play-off Semifinal Opponents Assessed
Wales are placed thirty-fourth in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and the Kosovan side 84th.
Albania enjoyed a impressive qualifying run, with their sole losses coming at the hands of their group winners England, who secured full points without allowing a solitary goal.
The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's recognizable names, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their scoring chart in the qualifiers with three goals.
Notably, Albania have not yet qualified for a World Cup, although they participated at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, failing to advance to the last 16 on each occasions.
While Slovenia and Sweden had poor runs, with both not managing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.
The Swiss ended the six-game campaign 3 points clear of Kosovo, whose single defeat was at the hands of the pool winners.
Kosovo include former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic leading goalscorer – in a squad targeting a first international competition appearance.
They have never played the Welsh team.
Bosnia were defeated just once in the qualifiers, and earned a points more than the Welsh managed in their 8 games, but nonetheless finished two points adrift of their group winners Austria.
They were a quarter of an hour away from securing a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians meant the teams tied in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.
Wales have failed to defeat the Bosnians in 4 matches but did have a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after losing.
Being his nation's historic leading scorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's standout player.
The 39-year-old was his team's top scorer in the qualifiers with five goals.
Lastly, we have Ireland.
Having secured only a single point from their opening 3 qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the play-offs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott netted both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to take runner-up spot in Group F in dramatic fashion.
Talisman Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his side's resurgence while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one position his own.
Ireland are winless in their past 4 encounters with Wales, defeated in 3 of these, 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.