Craig Bellamy's squad Prepared to Take on Anyone in FIFA World Cup Qualifying Fixture

Wales football team celebration

Wales have secured eight of their last 16 matches under manager Craig Bellamy

The team's sights are squarely on the upcoming World Cup playoff fixture as they prepare for learning their semi-final and possible final challengers.

After ended second in their qualifying group thanks to a dominant 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – Wales will host the semifinal encounter on their own turf.

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

Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw believes the Dragons will relish a match against any team following their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his approach is 'give us anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw said.

"Many fans were saying recently, 'should we really want Republic of Ireland because of that local atmosphere?'. I think a number of people didn't. But personally, that could be fantastic.

"It's that type of situation, indeed, we're ready for Kosovo or the Bosnians and Albania are not bad and Republic of Ireland, of course, they are a strong team so they'll be difficult.

"However the sense is that we'll take anybody right now and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semi-final Opponents Evaluated

Wales sit 34th in the world standings, with Albania sixty-first, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia seventy-fifth and Kosovo eighty-fourth.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a strong qualification campaign, with their only losses coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed full points without allowing a solitary goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's recognizable names, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their scoring tally in the qualifiers with 3 goals.

Importantly, the Albanians have never earned a spot for a World Cup, though they participated at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, not managing to reach the last 16 on each times.

While Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid campaigns, with both not managing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Swiss finished the six-match campaign three points clear of the Kosovans, whose single loss was at the hands of the pool winners.

The Kosovan squad include ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic leading goalscorer – in a team aiming for a first international competition appearance.

They have never played the Welsh team.

Bosnia lost only one time in qualifying, and earned a point more than the Welsh achieved in their eight games, but still finished 2 points adrift of their group winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from clinching a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the pair drew in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the pool.

The Welsh have not managed to defeat the Bosnians in 4 attempts but did have a unforgettable defeat against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after losing.

As his country's historic leading scorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's key player.

The 39-year-old was his squad's leading goalscorer in qualifying with five goals.

And finally, we have Ireland.

Having secured just one point from their first 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson'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 scoring a triple – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to secure second spot in Group F in thrilling fashion.

Talisman Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his side's resurgence while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one jersey his own.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their last four meetings with Wales, losing 3 of those, though James McClean shattered the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.

Amy George
Amy George

Elara is a passionate astrophysicist and science writer, dedicated to making complex space topics accessible and exciting for all readers.