Wales Set to Take on Whichever Opponent in World Cup Qualifying Fixture
Wales have won eight of their previous sixteen matches with manager Craig Bellamy
The team's attention are firmly on Thursday's World Cup play-off fixture as they prepare for discovering their semifinal and possible final rivals.
After finished second in their qualification pool thanks to a decisive 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – the side will host the semifinal encounter on home soil.
They will face either Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.
Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will embrace a tie against whichever opponent following their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his approach is 'bring on anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw commented.
"Many people were wondering last night, 'should we really want Ireland because of that local atmosphere?'. In my view many people didn't. But personally, that could be amazing.
"It's that type of situation, yes, we'll take the Kosovans or Bosnia and the Albanians are competitive and Ireland, naturally, they're a very good team so it will be difficult.
"But the sense is that we'll take anybody at the moment and it doesn't matter, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."
Possible Playoff Semifinal Rivals Evaluated
Wales are placed thirty-fourth in the world rankings, with Albania 61st, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia 75th and Kosovo eighty-fourth.
The Albanian national team enjoyed a impressive qualifying campaign, with their only losses coming at the hands of their group winners England, who secured full points without conceding a solitary goal.
Burnley'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 3 goals.
Notably, the Albanians have not yet earned a spot for a World Cup, although they participated at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, failing to advance to the last 16 on both occasions.
While Slovenia and Sweden endured difficult runs, with both not managing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.
The Swiss finished the six-game campaign three points ahead of Kosovo, whose one loss came at the hands of the pool winners.
Kosovo include ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time leading goalscorer – in a squad targeting a first major tournament appearance.
They have not yet faced the Welsh team.
Bosnia-Herzegovina lost only one time in qualifying, and claimed a point additional than Wales 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 clinching a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians ensured the pair tied in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.
Wales have not managed to defeat the Bosnian side in four matches but experienced a unforgettable defeat against the Dragons as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite losing.
Being his nation'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 team's leading goalscorer in the qualifiers with five goals.
And finally, we have Ireland.
Having secured just one point from their first three qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the playoffs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott netted the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to take second spot in their group in thrilling fashion.
Key player Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his team's resurgence while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one jersey his to keep.
Ireland are without a win in their past four meetings with Wales, defeated in three of those, though James McClean broke the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.