Craig Bellamy's squad Ready to Challenge Anybody in World Cup Qualifying Draw

Wales football team celebration

Wales have secured eight of their previous sixteen matches under manager Craig Bellamy

The team's focus are firmly on Thursday's World Cup playoff draw as they prepare for learning their semi-final and potential final challengers.

Having ended second in their qualification pool thanks to a dominant 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – Wales will host the semi-final encounter on their own turf.

They will face either Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo or Republic of Ireland in that match on 26 March.

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw thinks the Welsh squad will embrace a tie against whichever opponent following their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his approach is 'give us whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw commented.

"A lot of fans were wondering last night, 'do we actually want Ireland as it's that local feel?'. In my view a number of supporters didn't. But personally, that would be amazing.

"So it's one of those, yes, we'll take Kosovo or the Bosnians and the Albanians are competitive and Republic of Ireland, of course, they're a strong team so they'll be difficult.

"But the sense is that we're prepared for anyone at the moment and we're confident, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semi-final Opponents Assessed

The Welsh squad sit 34th in the world standings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a impressive qualifying campaign, with their only defeats suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed maximum points without conceding a single goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's more notable players, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their goal tally in the qualifiers with 3 goals.

It is worth noting, the Albanians have not yet earned a spot for a World Cup, although they participated at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, not managing to reach the last 16 on both occasions.

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

The Swiss ended the six-match qualifiers three points clear of Kosovo, whose one defeat came at the hands of the pool winners.

The Kosovan squad feature former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic top scorer – in a squad aiming for a first major tournament appearance.

They have never faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia were defeated just once in qualifying, and earned a point more than Wales managed in their eight games, but nonetheless ended two points adrift of Group H winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from clinching a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the teams tied in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.

The Welsh have not managed to beat the Bosnians in four attempts but experienced a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

As his nation's historic top goalscorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's standout player.

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

And finally, we have Ireland.

Having secured just one point from their first 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the play-offs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored the two goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to secure second place in their group in thrilling fashion.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his team's resurgence while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one position his to keep.

The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their last 4 meetings with the Welsh, losing 3 of those, though James McClean shattered the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.

Frank Vasquez
Frank Vasquez

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