The Welsh team Ready to Take on Whichever Opponent in World Cup Qualifying Draw

Wales football team celebration

Wales have secured 8 of their recent 16 matches with manager Craig Bellamy

The team's attention are squarely on Thursday's World Cup play-off draw as they prepare for discovering their semi-final and possible final opponents.

Having finished second in their qualification group following a commanding 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – the side will host the semifinal match on their own turf.

They will face either the Albanian side, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.

Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw believes the Dragons will embrace a match against any team after their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his approach is 'bring on whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw stated.

"Many people were saying recently, 'do we actually want Ireland as it's that derby atmosphere?'. In my view many people didn't. But for me, that could be amazing.

"So it's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take the Kosovans or the Bosnians and the Albanians are decent and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they're a very good team so they'll be challenging.

"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."

Potential Play-off Semi-final Rivals Evaluated

The Welsh squad sit thirty-fourth in the FIFA rankings, with Albania 61st, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and the Kosovan side 84th.

Albania had a impressive qualifying run, with their only losses coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured maximum points without conceding a solitary goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's recognizable names, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their scoring chart in the qualifiers with three goals.

Notably, Albania have never earned a spot for a World Cup, although they participated at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, not managing to reach the knockout stages on both occasions.

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

The Swiss ended the six-match qualifiers 3 points clear of Kosovo, whose one defeat was at the hands of the pool winners.

The Kosovan squad feature ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic top scorer – in a squad aiming for a first international competition appearance.

They have not yet faced Wales.

Bosnia lost only one time in the qualifiers, and earned a points additional than the Welsh managed in their eight games, but still ended 2 points adrift of their group winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from clinching a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians meant the teams drew in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.

The Welsh have failed to beat the Bosnian side in 4 attempts but did have a unforgettable defeat against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite losing.

Being his country's historic leading scorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with 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 secured only a single point from their opening 3 qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the playoffs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott netted the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to secure second place in Group F in dramatic style.

Talisman Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his side's revival while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting position his own.

Ireland are without a win in their last four encounters with Wales, losing three of those, though James McClean broke the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.

April Campbell
April Campbell

An avid hiker and writer who blends nature exploration with poetic storytelling.