Wales Set to Take on Whichever Opponent in World Cup Qualifying Draw

Wales football team celebration

The team has won 8 of their last sixteen matches with coach Craig Bellamy

Wales' focus are firmly on the upcoming World Cup playoff fixture as they prepare for learning their semifinal and potential final rivals.

After finished as runners-up in their qualifying pool following a dominant 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest win 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 fixture on 26 March.

Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw feels the Dragons will embrace a tie against whichever team after their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his approach is 'give us anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw said.

"Many fans were saying last night, 'do we really want Republic of Ireland as it's that local atmosphere?'. I think a number of people didn't. But for me, that could be incredible.

"So it's that type of situation, indeed, we're ready for Kosovo or Bosnia and the Albanians are competitive and Ireland, naturally, they're a strong team so it will be difficult.

"However you just feel that we're prepared for anybody at the moment and we're confident, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Potential Playoff Semifinal Opponents Evaluated

Wales are placed 34th in the world standings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia 75th and the Kosovan side 84th.

Albania had a solid qualifying run, with their sole losses suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured maximum points without allowing a solitary goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's more notable names, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their goal tally in the qualifiers with three goals.

Importantly, Albania have not yet qualified for a World Cup, though they featured at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, failing to reach the knockout stages on each times.

While Slovenia and Sweden had torrid campaigns, with each failing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Swiss ended the six-game campaign 3 points clear of the Kosovans, whose single loss came at the hands of the group winners.

Kosovo feature ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time leading goalscorer – in a team aiming for a maiden major tournament appearance.

They have not yet played Wales.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated just once in qualifying, and claimed a points additional than the Welsh achieved 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 equaliser for the Austrians ensured the pair tied in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.

Wales have failed to defeat the Bosnian side in four attempts but did have a unforgettable defeat against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite losing.

Being his country's all-time top goalscorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's standout player.

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

Lastly, we have Ireland.

After taken only a single 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 scored both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to take second place in their group in dramatic fashion.

Key player Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his side's revival while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one jersey his own.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their past 4 encounters with the Welsh, losing 3 of those, though James McClean shattered the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.

Lisa Collins
Lisa Collins

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