Wales Set to Face Anyone in FIFA World Cup Qualifying Draw
The team has won eight of their previous sixteen matches with coach Craig Bellamy
Wales' attention are squarely on the upcoming World Cup play-off fixture as they prepare for learning their semifinal and possible final opponents.
After ended second in their qualification group following a commanding 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – Wales will play the semifinal encounter on home soil.
They will meet either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Kosovan team or Republic of Ireland in that match on 26 March.
Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will welcome a tie against whichever team following their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his approach is 'give us whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw said.
"A lot of people were asking recently, 'should we really want Ireland because of that derby feel?'. In my view many people didn't. But personally, that would be amazing.
"It's one of those, indeed, we're ready for Kosovo or the Bosnians and Albania are competitive and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they are a very good team so it will be challenging.
"However the sense is that we'll take anybody right now and it doesn't matter, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."
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The Welsh squad sit 34th in the FIFA standings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and Kosovo eighty-fourth.
Albania enjoyed a solid qualification campaign, with their sole losses suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed maximum points without allowing a solitary goal.
Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's more notable players, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their goal chart in qualifying with three goals.
It is worth noting, the Albanians have not yet qualified for a World Cup, though they participated at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, failing to advance to the last 16 on each occasions.
As Slovenia and Sweden had torrid runs, with each not managing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.
The Swiss finished the six-match campaign three points ahead of Kosovo, whose one defeat was at the hands of the pool winners.
The Kosovan squad include ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time leading goalscorer – in a squad aiming for a maiden major tournament appearance.
They have not yet played Wales.
Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated just once in the qualifiers, and earned a point additional than Wales managed in their 8 games, but nonetheless finished two points behind of their group winners Austria.
They were 13 minutes away from securing a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians ensured the pair drew in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.
The Welsh have failed to defeat the Bosnians in 4 matches but experienced a memorable loss against the Dragons as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite losing.
Being his nation's historic top goalscorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's key player.
The 39-year-old was his squad's top scorer in the qualifiers with five goals.
Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.
Having secured just one point from their opening three qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed 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 triple – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to take second place in their group in thrilling style.
Talisman Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his side's resurgence while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one position his to keep.
Ireland are without a win in their past four encounters with Wales, defeated in three of those, although James McClean shattered the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.
