Craig Bellamy's squad Set to Take on Anyone in World Cup Qualifying Draw

Wales football team celebration

The team has secured 8 of their recent 16 matches with coach Craig Bellamy

The team's sights are firmly on Thursday's World Cup play-off fixture as they await learning their semifinal and possible final opponents.

Having finished second in their qualifying group following a commanding 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – Wales will play the semifinal match on their own turf.

They will meet either Albania, Bosnia, the Kosovan team or Republic of Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.

Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw thinks the Welsh squad will relish a match against any team following their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his approach is 'bring on whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw stated.

"A lot of people were saying last night, 'do we actually want Ireland as it's that local feel?'. I think many supporters were hesitant. But personally, that could be fantastic.

"So it's that type of situation, yes, we'll take the Kosovans or the Bosnians and the Albanians are not bad and Republic of Ireland, of course, they are a capable team so they'll be challenging.

"However the sense is that we'll take anyone at the moment and it doesn't matter, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Potential Play-off Semifinal Opponents Evaluated

The Welsh squad sit thirty-fourth in the FIFA rankings, with Albania sixty-first, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and the Kosovan side 84th.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a solid qualification campaign, with their sole losses coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed full points without allowing a solitary goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's recognizable names, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their goal chart in qualifying with 3 goals.

It is worth noting, the Albanians have never earned a spot for a World Cup, though they participated at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, not managing to reach the last 16 on each occasions.

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

The Switzerland ended the six-match qualifiers 3 points clear of Kosovo, whose one defeat came at the hands of the group winners.

Kosovo include former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic leading goalscorer – in a team aiming for a maiden international competition appearance.

They have not yet faced Wales.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated only one time in qualifying, and earned a points additional than the Welsh managed in their 8 games, but still ended 2 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 teams drew in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.

The Welsh have not managed to defeat the Bosnians in 4 matches but did have a memorable loss against the Dragons as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

As his country's historic top goalscorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's key player.

The veteran was his team's top scorer in qualifying with five goals.

And finally, we have Ireland.

After taken only a single point from their opening 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the playoffs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott netted both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to take second spot in Group F in thrilling fashion.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his side's resurgence while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting jersey his own.

Ireland are without a win in their past four encounters with Wales, losing three of these, although James McClean broke the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.

Kevin Atkinson
Kevin Atkinson

Elara is a tech enthusiast and writer with a passion for exploring emerging trends and sharing actionable advice.