Wales Set to Face Whichever Opponent in FIFA World Cup Playoff Fixture
The team has won 8 of their last sixteen matches with manager Craig Bellamy
Wales' sights are squarely on Thursday's World Cup play-off fixture as they prepare for discovering their semi-final and potential final opponents.
After finished second in their qualification group thanks to a dominant 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – the side will play the semi-final match on their own turf.
They will play against either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo or Republic of Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.
Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw believes the Welsh squad will welcome a match against whichever opponent following their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his approach is 'bring on anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw commented.
"Many supporters were asking recently, 'should we actually want Republic of Ireland as it's that local feel?'. In my view a number of people didn't. But personally, that would be incredible.
"So it's one of those, indeed, we're ready for the Kosovans or the Bosnians and the Albanians are competitive and Ireland, naturally, they're a strong team so it will be challenging.
"But you just feel that we'll take anybody right now and it doesn't matter, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."
Potential Play-off Semifinal Opponents Reviewed
The Welsh squad sit thirty-fourth in the FIFA standings, with Albania sixty-first, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side 84th.
Albania enjoyed a solid qualification run, with their only defeats suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who secured full points without allowing a single goal.
The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's recognizable players, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their goal chart in the qualifiers with three goals.
Notably, Albania have never qualified for a FIFA World Cup, although they featured at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, failing to reach the last 16 on both occasions.
As Slovenia and Sweden endured difficult campaigns, with both failing to win a qualification match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.
The Swiss ended the six-match qualifiers three points clear of the Kosovans, whose single loss was at the hands of the group winners.
Kosovo include ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic leading goalscorer – in a team targeting a first international competition appearance.
They have never faced Wales.
Bosnia were defeated only one time in qualifying, and claimed a points more than Wales achieved in their 8 games, but still finished 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 last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.
The Welsh have failed to beat the Bosnians in four matches but did have a unforgettable defeat against the Dragons as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite losing.
As his nation's all-time top goalscorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player.
The 39-year-old was his squad's top scorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.
And finally, we have Ireland.
After taken just one point from their opening three matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the playoffs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott netted both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to secure second place in their group in dramatic fashion.
Talisman Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his team's revival while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one jersey his own.
The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their last 4 meetings with the Welsh, defeated in three of these, although James McClean shattered the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.
