Craig Bellamy's squad Ready to Face Whichever Opponent in FIFA World Cup Play-off Draw
The team has secured eight of their last 16 matches under manager Craig Bellamy
Wales' sights are squarely on the upcoming World Cup play-off fixture as they await discovering their semifinal and potential final opponents.
After finished second in their qualification group following a dominant 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – Wales will play the semi-final encounter on their own turf.
They will meet either Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo or Ireland in that match on 26 March.
Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw thinks the Dragons will relish a tie against any opponent after their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mentality is 'give us whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw said.
"Many fans were saying last night, 'should we actually want Republic of Ireland as it's that local feel?'. I think a number of supporters were hesitant. But for me, that could be incredible.
"It's one of those, indeed, we're ready for Kosovo or Bosnia and Albania are decent and Republic of Ireland, of course, they are a capable team so it will be difficult.
"But you just feel that we'll take anyone at the moment and we're confident, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."
Possible Play-off Semi-final Rivals Evaluated
Wales are placed 34th in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia 75th and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.
The Albanian national team had a solid qualifying campaign, with their sole defeats coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed maximum points without allowing a single goal.
The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's more notable players, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their goal tally in qualifying with 3 goals.
It is worth noting, the Albanians have never qualified for a World Cup, though they featured at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, failing to advance to the knockout stages on each occasions.
While Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid campaigns, with both failing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.
The Switzerland finished the six-match qualifiers three points clear of Kosovo, whose single defeat came at the hands of the pool winners.
Kosovo feature former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time leading goalscorer – in a team aiming for a maiden international competition appearance.
They have never faced Wales.
Bosnia were defeated only one time in qualifying, and earned a point more than Wales achieved in their 8 games, but nonetheless finished 2 points behind of their group winners Austria.
They were a quarter of an hour away from clinching a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the teams tied in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the pool.
The Welsh have not managed to beat the Bosnian side in 4 attempts but experienced a memorable defeat against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after losing.
As his country's historic top goalscorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's key player.
The veteran was his team's top scorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.
Lastly, we have Ireland.
After taken just one point from their opening 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the play-offs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott netted the two goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to take runner-up place in Group F in thrilling style.
Talisman Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his side's resurgence while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one jersey his to keep.
Ireland are winless in their past 4 meetings with Wales, defeated in 3 of those, though James McClean broke the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.