The Welsh team Prepared to Take on Anybody in World Cup Play-off Fixture
Wales have won eight of their previous sixteen matches under coach Craig Bellamy
The team's focus are firmly on Thursday's World Cup play-off fixture as they await discovering their semi-final and potential final rivals.
Having finished second in their qualification pool following a decisive 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – the side will play the semi-final match on home soil.
They will face either the Albanian side, Bosnia, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that match on 26 March.
Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Dragons will relish a tie against whichever team after their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mindset is 'bring on whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw said.
"A lot of fans were wondering last night, 'should we actually want Republic of Ireland as it's that local atmosphere?'. In my view a number of supporters were hesitant. But for me, that would be amazing.
"It's that type of situation, yes, we'll take Kosovo or the Bosnians and Albania are decent and Ireland, naturally, they are a very good team so it will be difficult.
"But 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 Semi-final Rivals Assessed
Wales are placed 34th in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia 75th and Kosovo 84th.
Albania had a solid qualifying run, with their only losses suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured maximum points without conceding a single goal.
Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's more notable players, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their scoring chart in the qualifiers with 3 goals.
Notably, the Albanians have not yet qualified for a World Cup, though they featured at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, failing to reach the knockout stages on both times.
While Slovenia and Sweden endured poor runs, with each failing to win a qualification match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.
The Swiss ended the six-game qualifiers three points clear of the Kosovans, whose single defeat came at the hands of the group winners.
The Kosovan squad include ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic leading goalscorer – in a squad aiming for a maiden major tournament appearance.
They have not yet played Wales.
Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated just once in the qualifiers, and earned a points additional than Wales achieved in their 8 games, but still ended 2 points adrift of Group H winners Austria.
They were 13 minutes away from clinching a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler 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 four attempts but experienced a unforgettable defeat against Zmajevi as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.
Being his country's historic top goalscorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's key player.
The 39-year-old was his team's leading goalscorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.
Lastly, we have Ireland.
Having taken only a single point from their opening three matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the play-offs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott netted the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to secure runner-up spot in Group F in dramatic fashion.
Talisman Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his side's resurgence while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting jersey his to keep.
The Republic of Ireland are winless in their last four meetings with the Welsh, defeated in three of these, although James McClean broke the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.
