Wales Prepared to Face Anyone in World Cup Qualifying Fixture
The team has secured eight of their recent sixteen matches with coach Craig Bellamy
Wales' attention are firmly on the upcoming World Cup play-off fixture as they prepare for discovering their semifinal and potential final rivals.
Having ended second in their qualification pool following a decisive 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – the side will host the semifinal encounter on home soil.
They will face either the Albanian side, Bosnia, Kosovo or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.
Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw believes the Dragons will embrace a match against whichever opponent following 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.
"A lot of fans were wondering last night, 'should we actually want Republic of Ireland as it's that local feel?'. In my view many people didn't. But for me, that would be incredible.
"So it's one of those, indeed, we'll take Kosovo or Bosnia and Albania are decent and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they are a strong team so it will be difficult.
"However you just feel that we're prepared for anyone at the moment and we're confident, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."
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The Welsh squad are placed thirty-fourth in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.
The Albanian national team enjoyed a strong qualifying run, with their sole defeats coming at the hands of their group winners England, who claimed full points without allowing a single goal.
The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's more notable players, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their scoring tally in the qualifiers with 3 goals.
It is worth noting, the Albanians have not yet qualified for a World Cup, although they participated at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, failing to advance to the knockout stages on each times.
While Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid runs, with each not managing to win a qualification match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.
The Swiss ended the six-match campaign three points ahead of the Kosovans, whose one loss came at the hands of the group winners.
The Kosovan squad include former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time top scorer – in a squad aiming for a first major tournament appearance.
They have not yet faced the Welsh team.
Bosnia were defeated only one time in qualifying, and earned a points more than Wales achieved in their eight games, but still ended 2 points behind of Group H 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 teams drew in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.
Wales have not managed to defeat the Bosnian side in four matches but did have a unforgettable loss against the Dragons as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.
Being his country's historic leading scorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's star player.
The veteran was his team's top scorer in qualifying with 5 goals.
Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.
Having taken just one point from their opening 3 qualifiers, Heimir HallgrĂmsson's side stormed into the play-offs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott netted the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to secure runner-up place in Group F in thrilling style.
Key player Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his team's resurgence while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting position his to keep.
Ireland are without a win in their last 4 meetings with the Welsh, defeated in three of these, though James McClean shattered the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.
