The Welsh team Ready to Take on Anyone in FIFA World Cup Qualifying Fixture
Wales have secured 8 of their last sixteen matches under coach Craig Bellamy
The team's attention are squarely on the upcoming World Cup playoff draw as they prepare for learning their semifinal and potential final opponents.
Having ended as runners-up in their qualifying pool thanks to a decisive 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – Wales will host the semifinal match on their own turf.
They will play against either Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo or Republic of Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.
Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Dragons will welcome a tie against whichever opponent following their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mentality is 'bring on whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw stated.
"Many supporters were asking recently, 'do we really want Ireland because of that local feel?'. I think a number of supporters were hesitant. But for me, that could be incredible.
"So it's that type of situation, yes, we're ready for the Kosovans or the Bosnians and the Albanians are competitive and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they're a strong team so it will be difficult.
"But the sense is that we're prepared for anybody at the moment and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."
Possible Playoff Semifinal Opponents Evaluated
The Welsh squad sit thirty-fourth in the world standings, with Albania sixty-first, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.
The Albanian national team had a impressive qualifying campaign, with their only defeats suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who claimed maximum points without conceding a solitary goal.
The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's recognizable players, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their goal tally in the qualifiers with three goals.
Notably, the Albanians have not yet qualified for a World Cup, though they featured at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, not managing to advance to the last 16 on each occasions.
As Slovenia and Sweden had torrid runs, with each failing to win a qualifying match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.
The Swiss finished the six-match qualifiers 3 points clear of Kosovo, whose one defeat came at the hands of the group winners.
Kosovo feature ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic leading goalscorer – in a squad aiming for a maiden international competition appearance.
They have not yet faced the Welsh team.
Bosnia-Herzegovina lost just once in qualifying, and earned a points additional than the Welsh managed in their 8 games, but nonetheless finished two points behind of Group H winners Austria.
They were a quarter of an hour away from securing a place at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians meant the pair drew in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.
The Welsh have not managed to defeat the Bosnians in 4 attempts but experienced a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.
As his nation's historic top goalscorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's star player.
The 39-year-old was his squad's leading goalscorer in qualifying 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 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 hat-trick – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to take second spot in their group in dramatic style.
Talisman Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his side's resurgence while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one position his to keep.
The Republic of Ireland are winless in their past four encounters with Wales, defeated in three of those, though James McClean shattered the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.