Wales Prepared to Face Anyone in World Cup Qualifying Fixture

Wales football team celebration

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

The team's sights are squarely on the upcoming World Cup playoff draw as they await learning their semi-final and potential final opponents.

Having ended second in their qualifying pool thanks to a decisive 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – the side will play the semifinal match on home soil.

They will meet either the Albanian side, Bosnia, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that match on 26 March.

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw thinks the Dragons will relish a tie against whichever team following their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

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

"Many people were saying last night, 'should we really want Republic of Ireland as it's that local atmosphere?'. I think many supporters didn't. But for me, that would be incredible.

"It's that type of situation, yes, we'll take Kosovo or the Bosnians and Albania are decent and Ireland, naturally, they are a very good team so it will be tough.

"But you just feel that we'll take anyone right now and we're confident, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

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The Welsh squad sit 34th in the world standings, with Albania sixty-first, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia 75th and Kosovo 84th.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a solid qualifying run, with their sole defeats coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed maximum points without conceding a single goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's prominent players, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their scoring tally in qualifying with three goals.

It is worth noting, the Albanians have not yet earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, although they featured at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, failing to advance to the knockout stages on each occasions.

As Slovenia and Sweden had torrid campaigns, with each not managing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Switzerland ended the six-match campaign 3 points ahead of Kosovo, whose one defeat came at the hands of the pool winners.

The Kosovan squad feature ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time leading goalscorer – in a squad aiming for a maiden international competition appearance.

They have not yet faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia lost just once in the qualifiers, and earned a points more than the Welsh achieved in their eight games, but nonetheless ended two 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 pair drew in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.

Wales have not managed to beat the Bosnian side in 4 matches but experienced a unforgettable defeat against Zmajevi as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

As his country's all-time leading scorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's standout player.

The 39-year-old was his team's top scorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.

Lastly, we have Ireland.

Having secured just one point from their opening 3 qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the playoffs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to take second spot in Group F in dramatic fashion.

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

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

Ana Patel
Ana Patel

A seasoned entertainment journalist with a passion for uncovering the latest celebrity scoops and trends.