The Welsh team Set to Challenge Anybody in FIFA World Cup Playoff Fixture

Wales football team celebration

The team has secured 8 of their recent sixteen matches with manager Craig Bellamy

The team's attention are firmly on the upcoming World Cup playoff draw as they prepare for discovering their semi-final and possible final rivals.

After ended second in their qualification group thanks to a commanding 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – Wales will host the semi-final encounter on home soil.

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

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will welcome a tie against any opponent after their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mentality is 'give us anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw said.

"Many fans were saying last night, 'do we really want Ireland because of that derby atmosphere?'. In my view many people didn't. But for me, that would be amazing.

"So it's one of those, yes, we're ready for Kosovo or Bosnia and Albania are decent and Republic of Ireland, of course, they're a strong team so they'll be challenging.

"However you just feel that we're prepared for anybody at the moment and it doesn't matter, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Possible Play-off Semi-final Opponents Reviewed

Wales sit thirty-fourth in the FIFA rankings, with Albania 61st, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia 75th and the Kosovan side 84th.

The Albanian national team had a strong qualification run, with their only losses suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed full points without allowing a single goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's recognizable players, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their scoring chart in the qualifiers with three goals.

It is worth noting, Albania have not yet earned a spot for a World Cup, although they participated at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, failing to advance to the last 16 on both times.

As Slovenia and Sweden had difficult runs, with both failing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Swiss finished the six-game qualifiers 3 points clear of the Kosovans, whose one loss was at the hands of the pool winners.

Kosovo feature ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time leading goalscorer – in a team aiming for a maiden international competition appearance.

They have not yet faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia-Herzegovina lost only one time in the qualifiers, and earned a point more than the Welsh managed in their eight games, but nonetheless ended 2 points behind of their group winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from clinching a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians ensured the teams drew in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.

Wales have failed to beat the Bosnians in four matches but experienced a unforgettable loss against the Dragons as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

As his nation's historic top goalscorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player.

The 39-year-old was his squad's top scorer in qualifying with 5 goals.

Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.

Having taken just one point from their first 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the play-offs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to secure second place in their group in thrilling fashion.

Talisman Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his team's revival while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting position his own.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their past 4 meetings with the Welsh, losing three of those, although James McClean broke the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.

Bob Hernandez
Bob Hernandez

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