The Welsh team Set to Challenge Anyone in World Cup Qualifying Fixture

Wales football team celebration

Wales have won 8 of their recent sixteen matches under coach Craig Bellamy

Wales' focus are squarely on the upcoming World Cup play-off fixture as they prepare for learning their semifinal and possible final challengers.

After finished second in their qualifying pool thanks to a decisive 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – Wales will play the semi-final encounter on their own turf.

They will play against either the Albanian side, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Kosovan team or Republic of Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw thinks the Dragons will welcome a tie against any opponent after their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his approach is 'bring on anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw said.

"A lot of people were asking last night, 'should we actually want Ireland as it's that derby feel?'. I think 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 the Bosnians and the Albanians are competitive and Ireland, of course, they're a capable team so they'll be tough.

"But the sense is that we'll take anybody at the moment and we're confident, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Possible Play-off Semi-final Rivals Assessed

Wales sit 34th in the FIFA standings, with Albania 61st, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia seventy-fifth and Kosovo 84th.

Albania enjoyed a strong qualifying campaign, with their sole losses coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed full points without conceding a single goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's more notable players, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their scoring tally in the qualifiers with three goals.

It is worth noting, Albania have not yet qualified for a World Cup, though they featured at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, not managing to advance to the last 16 on each occasions.

While Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid runs, with each failing to win a qualification match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Swiss finished the six-game qualifiers 3 points ahead of Kosovo, whose single defeat came at the hands of the pool winners.

The Kosovan squad include ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time leading goalscorer – in a squad targeting a first major tournament appearance.

They have never faced Wales.

Bosnia were defeated only one time in qualifying, and earned a points more than Wales managed in their 8 games, but nonetheless ended 2 points behind of Group H winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from securing a place at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the pair tied in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.

Wales have failed to beat the Bosnians in four matches but did have a memorable defeat against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

Being his nation's all-time leading scorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's key player.

The veteran was his squad's leading goalscorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.

And finally, we have Ireland.

Having secured only a single point from their opening three qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the playoffs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to take runner-up place in their group in thrilling style.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his team's revival while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting position his own.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their past four encounters with Wales, losing 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.

Peter Hernandez
Peter Hernandez

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