Wales Prepared to Challenge Anyone in FIFA World Cup Qualifying Draw

The team's focus are squarely on Thursday's World Cup playoff fixture as they await learning their semifinal and potential final rivals.

Having ended second in their qualification group following a dominant 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – the side will host the semifinal match on home soil.

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

Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw believes the Dragons will welcome a tie against whichever opponent after their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mentality is 'give us anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw stated.

"Many fans were wondering recently, 'should we really want Ireland as it's that derby atmosphere?'. In my view many people were hesitant. But personally, that could be incredible.

"So it's that type of situation, indeed, we're ready for the Kosovans or the Bosnians and the Albanians are not bad and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they're a strong team so they'll be difficult.

"But you just feel that we'll take anyone right now and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Potential Play-off Semifinal Opponents Assessed

Wales are placed thirty-fourth in the world rankings, with Albania sixty-first, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia 75th and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.

Albania enjoyed a solid qualifying run, with their only defeats suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who claimed full points without conceding a solitary goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's prominent players, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their scoring chart in qualifying with 3 goals.

It is worth noting, the Albanians have not yet qualified for a World Cup, though they participated at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, not managing to reach the knockout stages on both occasions.

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

The Swiss ended the six-game qualifiers 3 points ahead of the Kosovans, whose single loss was at the hands of the group winners.

The Kosovan squad include former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic leading goalscorer – in a squad targeting a maiden major tournament appearance.

They have never faced Wales.

Bosnia-Herzegovina lost just once in qualifying, and claimed a point additional than the Welsh managed in their eight games, but still finished 2 points adrift of their group winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from clinching a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians ensured the teams drew in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.

The Welsh have failed to defeat the Bosnian side in 4 attempts but experienced a unforgettable loss against Zmajevi as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

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

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

Lastly, we have Ireland.

After taken only a single point from their first three matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the play-offs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to secure second place in Group F in dramatic fashion.

Talisman Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his team's revival while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one position his to keep.

Ireland are without a win in their last 4 meetings with Wales, defeated in 3 of those, though James McClean shattered the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.