Wales Set to Challenge Anyone in World Cup Playoff Fixture
The team has secured eight of their last sixteen matches with manager Craig Bellamy
Wales' attention are firmly on Thursday's World Cup playoff fixture as they prepare for learning their semifinal and possible final challengers.
After ended second in their qualification group thanks to a decisive 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – Wales will host the semi-final match on home soil.
They will meet either the Albanian side, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.
Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will embrace a match against any team following their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mentality is 'give us whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw commented.
"A lot of fans were asking recently, 'should we really want Ireland as it's that local feel?'. In my view a number of people didn't. But personally, that could be amazing.
"So it's that type of situation, yes, we'll take Kosovo or the Bosnians and Albania are competitive and Ireland, naturally, they're a strong team so they'll be tough.
"But you just feel that we'll take anyone right now and it doesn't matter, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."
Potential Playoff Semifinal Opponents Evaluated
Wales are placed thirty-fourth in the FIFA standings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.
The Albanian national team had a impressive qualification campaign, with their only losses suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed maximum points without allowing a solitary goal.
Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's recognizable names, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their scoring chart in qualifying with three goals.
Notably, Albania have never qualified for a World Cup, although they participated at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, failing to advance to the knockout stages on both occasions.
While Slovenia and Sweden endured difficult campaigns, with each not managing to win a qualification match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.
The Swiss ended the six-match qualifiers 3 points clear of the Kosovans, whose single defeat came at the hands of the pool winners.
The Kosovan squad feature ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time top scorer – in a team targeting a maiden major tournament appearance.
They have never played the Welsh team.
Bosnia lost only one time in the qualifiers, and claimed a point additional than the Welsh achieved in their eight games, but nonetheless ended two points behind of Group H winners Austria.
They were 13 minutes away from clinching a place at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the pair tied in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.
The Welsh have failed to beat the Bosnian side in four matches but experienced a unforgettable loss against Zmajevi as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite losing.
Being his country's all-time leading scorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's key player.
The 39-year-old was his team's top scorer in qualifying with five goals.
Lastly, we have Ireland.
After taken just one point from their opening 3 matches, Heimir HallgrÃmsson's side surged into the play-offs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott scored both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to take second spot in Group F in dramatic fashion.
Key player Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his team's revival while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting position his own.
Ireland are without a win in their last 4 meetings with the Welsh, defeated in three of these, although James McClean broke the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.
