Wales Prepared to Challenge Anybody in World Cup Playoff Fixture
The team has won 8 of their recent 16 matches under manager Craig Bellamy
The team's focus are firmly on Thursday's World Cup play-off draw as they await discovering their semi-final and possible final opponents.
Having finished second in their qualifying pool thanks to a dominant 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – the side will host the semi-final match on home soil.
They will play against either the Albanian side, Bosnia, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.
Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw thinks the Dragons will welcome a match against whichever team after their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mentality is 'bring on anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw commented.
"A lot of fans were wondering last night, 'should we actually want Republic of Ireland because of that derby feel?'. In my view many supporters didn't. But for me, that could be fantastic.
"So it's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take Kosovo or the Bosnians and Albania are not bad and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they're a capable team so it will be challenging.
"But the sense is that we're prepared for anybody at the moment and we're confident, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."
Possible Playoff Semi-final Rivals Assessed
Wales are placed thirty-fourth in the world standings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia 75th and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.
The Albanian national team had a solid qualifying run, with their sole losses coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured maximum points without allowing a single goal.
Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's recognizable players, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their goal chart in the qualifiers with three goals.
It is worth noting, the Albanians have never qualified for a World Cup, though they featured at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, failing to reach the last 16 on each times.
While Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid runs, with both failing to win a qualification match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.
The Switzerland ended the six-game campaign three points ahead of Kosovo, whose one defeat came at the hands of the pool winners.
Kosovo include ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time leading goalscorer – in a squad targeting a maiden international competition appearance.
They have never played Wales.
Bosnia lost only one time in the qualifiers, and earned a points additional than the Welsh managed in their 8 games, but nonetheless ended two points adrift of their group winners Austria.
They were 13 minutes away from clinching a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians ensured the teams tied in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.
The Welsh have failed to beat the Bosnians in 4 attempts but experienced a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after losing.
Being his country's historic leading scorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's standout player.
The veteran was his team's leading goalscorer in qualifying with five goals.
Lastly, we have Ireland.
After taken only a single point from their opening 3 qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the play-offs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott scored the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to take runner-up place in Group F in dramatic style.
Key player Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his side's revival while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one position his own.
Ireland are winless in their last four encounters with the Welsh, losing three of these, although James McClean broke the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.
