Wales Set to Face Anybody in FIFA World Cup Play-off Fixture
The team has secured eight of their previous sixteen matches with manager Craig Bellamy
The team's sights are firmly on the upcoming World Cup playoff draw as they prepare for learning their semi-final and potential final rivals.
After ended as runners-up in their qualification group thanks to a dominant 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – the side will host the semi-final match on their own turf.
They will play against either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo or Republic of Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.
Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw believes the Welsh squad will welcome a match against whichever opponent following their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mentality is 'bring on whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw said.
"Many supporters were asking recently, 'do we actually want Republic of Ireland because of that local atmosphere?'. I think a number of people didn't. But for me, that would be fantastic.
"So it's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take the Kosovans or the Bosnians and the Albanians are decent and Republic of Ireland, of course, they're a capable team so it will be difficult.
"But you just feel that we'll take anybody at the moment and we're confident, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."
Potential Playoff Semi-final Opponents Evaluated
Wales are placed thirty-fourth in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia 75th and the Kosovan side 84th.
The Albanian national team enjoyed a impressive qualification campaign, with their only defeats suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed full points without allowing a solitary goal.
The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's more notable names, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their goal tally in the qualifiers with 3 goals.
It is worth noting, the Albanians have never earned a spot for a World Cup, though they featured at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, not managing to advance to the knockout stages on both times.
While Slovenia and Sweden had difficult campaigns, with both not managing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.
The Switzerland finished the six-game campaign 3 points clear of the Kosovans, whose single loss was at the hands of the pool winners.
The Kosovan squad include ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic top scorer – in a squad aiming for a maiden international competition appearance.
They have never faced the Welsh team.
Bosnia were defeated just once in the qualifiers, and claimed a point additional than the Welsh achieved in their eight games, but nonetheless finished 2 points behind of their group winners Austria.
They were 13 minutes away from clinching a place 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 group.
The Welsh have failed to defeat the Bosnians in four matches but experienced a unforgettable loss against the Dragons as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after losing.
As his nation's historic top goalscorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player.
The veteran was his team's top scorer in qualifying with 5 goals.
And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.
After taken just one point from their opening three qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the play-offs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott netted the two goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to take second spot in their group in dramatic fashion.
Key player Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his team's revival while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting jersey his to keep.
Ireland are winless in their last four meetings with Wales, losing three 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.