Craig Bellamy's squad Ready to Face Anybody in FIFA World Cup Qualifying Fixture

Wales football team celebration

The team has secured eight of their last sixteen matches under coach Craig Bellamy

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

After finished as runners-up in their qualifying group thanks to a dominant 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – the side will play the semifinal encounter on home soil.

They will face either the Albanian side, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo or Ireland in that match on 26 March.

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

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his approach is 'bring on whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw said.

"Many people were asking recently, 'do we really want Ireland as it's that local atmosphere?'. In my view many supporters didn't. But personally, that could be fantastic.

"So it's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take the Kosovans or Bosnia and the Albanians are decent and Ireland, naturally, they are a very good team so they'll be tough.

"However the sense is that we're prepared for anybody right now and we're confident, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Potential Play-off Semifinal Opponents Reviewed

Wales sit thirty-fourth in the FIFA standings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and Kosovo eighty-fourth.

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

Burnley'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 led their goal tally in the qualifiers with 3 goals.

Notably, the Albanians have never earned a spot for a 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 endured difficult campaigns, with each not managing to win a qualification match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Switzerland finished the six-game campaign three points ahead of the Kosovans, whose single loss was at the hands of the group winners.

The Kosovan squad feature former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time leading goalscorer – in a squad aiming for a maiden major tournament appearance.

They have never played Wales.

Bosnia-Herzegovina lost just once in qualifying, and earned a point additional than the Welsh achieved in their 8 games, but still ended two points behind of Group H winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from clinching a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians meant the teams drew in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.

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

As his country's historic leading scorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's key player.

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

Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.

After secured only a single point from their first three matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the playoffs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to take second spot in Group F in dramatic style.

Talisman Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his side's revival while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one jersey his own.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their past four meetings with Wales, losing 3 of these, though James McClean broke the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.

Virginia Hughes
Virginia Hughes

A wellness coach and writer passionate about holistic health and empowering others through mindful living.