Craig Bellamy's squad Prepared to Face Anybody in World Cup Play-off Fixture

Wales football team celebration

The team has won 8 of their previous 16 matches under coach Craig Bellamy

The team's focus are firmly on the upcoming World Cup play-off draw as they await learning their semi-final and possible final opponents.

Having finished as runners-up in their qualifying pool following a decisive 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – Wales will play the semi-final encounter on their own turf.

They will face either Albania, Bosnia, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that match on 26 March.

Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw feels the Dragons will welcome a tie against any team after their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mindset is 'give us anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw said.

"Many people were asking last night, 'do we really want Ireland because of that local atmosphere?'. I think many people were hesitant. But personally, that would be fantastic.

"It's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take the Kosovans or Bosnia and Albania are decent and Ireland, of course, they are a capable team so they'll be tough.

"But the sense is that we'll take anyone right now and it doesn't matter, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semi-final Rivals Reviewed

The Welsh squad sit thirty-fourth in the FIFA standings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and Kosovo 84th.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a impressive qualifying run, with their only defeats coming at the hands of their group winners England, who claimed full points without allowing a solitary goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's prominent names, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their scoring chart in the qualifiers with 3 goals.

Importantly, Albania have not yet earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, although they participated at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, not managing to reach the knockout stages on each occasions.

While Slovenia and Sweden had difficult campaigns, with each not managing to win a qualification match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Swiss finished the six-match campaign three points clear of the Kosovans, whose single defeat was at the hands of the pool winners.

The Kosovan squad feature former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic leading goalscorer – in a team targeting a maiden major tournament appearance.

They have not yet played Wales.

Bosnia-Herzegovina lost only one time in qualifying, and earned a point additional than the Welsh managed in their eight games, but nonetheless ended two points behind of their group winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from clinching a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the teams drew in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.

The Welsh have not managed to defeat the Bosnians in four matches but experienced a memorable defeat against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite losing.

Being his nation's all-time top goalscorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's standout player.

The veteran was his team's leading goalscorer in the qualifiers with five goals.

Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.

After taken just one point from their first three qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the playoffs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to secure second place in Group F in dramatic fashion.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his team's resurgence while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one position his to keep.

Ireland are without a win in their past four encounters with Wales, losing 3 of those, although James McClean broke the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.

Andrea Baker
Andrea Baker

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