The Welsh team Set to Take on Anybody in FIFA World Cup Play-off Draw
The team has won 8 of their previous sixteen matches with coach Craig Bellamy
Wales' sights are firmly on the upcoming World Cup playoff fixture as they prepare for discovering their semifinal and possible final rivals.
After ended second in their qualification pool following a decisive 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – Wales will play the semi-final match on their own turf.
They will meet either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that match on 26 March.
Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw believes the Welsh squad will embrace a tie against any opponent after their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his approach is 'give us whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw said.
"Many fans were saying recently, 'do we really want Ireland as it's that local atmosphere?'. In my view a number of people didn't. But for me, that could be amazing.
"So it's that type of situation, yes, we'll take Kosovo or Bosnia and the Albanians are not bad and Republic of Ireland, of course, they are a strong team so it will be tough.
"However the sense is that we're prepared for anyone at the moment and we're confident, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."
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The Welsh squad sit 34th in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia seventy-fifth and Kosovo 84th.
The Albanian national team enjoyed a impressive qualifying run, with their sole defeats coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured full points without allowing a single goal.
Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's more notable names, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their goal chart in the qualifiers with 3 goals.
Notably, Albania have not yet qualified for a World Cup, although they featured at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, failing to reach the knockout stages on both times.
While Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid runs, with each not managing to win a qualification match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.
The Switzerland finished the six-match qualifiers three points clear of the Kosovans, whose one defeat was at the hands of the pool winners.
The Kosovan squad feature ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic leading goalscorer – in a squad aiming for a first international competition appearance.
They have not yet faced Wales.
Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated only one time in the qualifiers, and earned a point additional than the Welsh achieved in their 8 games, but nonetheless finished two points adrift of their group winners Austria.
They were 13 minutes away from securing a place at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the teams tied in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.
The Welsh have not managed to beat the Bosnian side in 4 matches but experienced a memorable loss against the Dragons as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after losing.
Being his country's historic leading scorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's key player.
The 39-year-old was his squad's top scorer in qualifying with 5 goals.
And finally, we have Ireland.
After secured only a single point from their first 3 qualifiers, 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 scoring a triple – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to secure runner-up place in Group F in dramatic style.
Key player Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his team's revival while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one position his to keep.
The Republic of Ireland are winless in their last four encounters with Wales, losing three of these, though James McClean shattered the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.
