Craig Bellamy's squad Ready to Challenge Anyone in FIFA World Cup Playoff Draw
The team has secured 8 of their previous sixteen matches with manager Craig Bellamy
Wales' focus are squarely on the upcoming World Cup playoff fixture as they prepare for learning their semi-final and possible final challengers.
After ended as runners-up in their qualification group thanks to a dominant 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – the side will host the semifinal match on their own turf.
They will face either the Albanian side, Bosnia, Kosovo or Ireland in that match on 26 March.
Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw thinks the Dragons will relish a tie against whichever team after their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mentality is 'give us anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw commented.
"A lot of supporters were saying last night, 'do we really want Ireland because of that derby feel?'. I think a number of people didn't. But personally, that could be fantastic.
"So it's that type of situation, indeed, we're ready for Kosovo or the Bosnians and Albania are competitive and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they are a capable team so they'll be challenging.
"However the sense is that we're prepared for anybody right now and we're confident, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."
Possible Play-off Semifinal Opponents Assessed
Wales are placed 34th in the world standings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia 75th and Kosovo eighty-fourth.
Albania enjoyed a impressive qualification campaign, with their sole defeats coming at the hands of their group winners England, who secured maximum points without conceding a solitary goal.
The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's prominent names, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their scoring chart in the qualifiers with three goals.
Notably, Albania have not yet qualified for a World Cup, although they participated at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, not managing to advance to the last 16 on each occasions.
As Slovenia and Sweden had torrid campaigns, with both failing to win a qualification match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.
The Swiss ended the six-game qualifiers 3 points clear of the Kosovans, whose one defeat was at the hands of the group winners.
Kosovo feature former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic leading goalscorer – in a team aiming for a first international competition appearance.
They have never played the Welsh team.
Bosnia were defeated just once in the qualifiers, and claimed a point additional than the Welsh achieved in their 8 games, but nonetheless ended two points behind of Group H winners Austria.
They were a quarter of an hour away from securing a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians ensured the pair drew in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.
Wales have not managed to beat the Bosnian side in 4 attempts but did have a memorable loss against Zmajevi as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.
As his nation's historic leading scorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's standout player.
The veteran was his squad's top scorer in qualifying with five goals.
And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.
After taken only a single point from their first 3 qualifiers, Heimir HallgrĂmsson's side surged into the playoffs 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 third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to take second spot in their group in thrilling style.
Talisman Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his side's revival while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one position his own.
The Republic of Ireland are winless in their past four encounters with Wales, losing 3 of those, though James McClean shattered 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.