Wales Prepared to Take on Anybody in World Cup Playoff Draw

Wales football team celebration

The team has won eight of their previous sixteen matches with manager Craig Bellamy

Wales' attention are squarely on the upcoming World Cup play-off fixture as they await discovering their semi-final and possible final challengers.

After ended as runners-up in their qualifying pool following a decisive 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – the side will play the semifinal encounter on their own turf.

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

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will welcome a match against any team following their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mindset is 'give us anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw commented.

"A lot of people were asking last night, 'do we actually want Republic of Ireland because of that local feel?'. In my view many supporters were hesitant. But personally, that could be fantastic.

"So it's one of those, indeed, we'll take Kosovo or the Bosnians and the Albanians are competitive and Ireland, naturally, they are a capable team so it will be difficult.

"However you just feel that we'll take anyone right now and we're confident, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Possible Play-off Semi-final Opponents Reviewed

Wales sit thirty-fourth in the FIFA standings, with Albania sixty-first, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia seventy-fifth and Kosovo 84th.

Albania enjoyed a impressive qualification campaign, with their sole defeats 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 Red and Blacks's more notable names, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their scoring chart in the qualifiers with three goals.

Importantly, Albania have not yet qualified for a World Cup, although they participated at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, not managing to reach the knockout stages on each occasions.

As Slovenia and Sweden endured poor campaigns, with each not managing to win a qualifying match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland ended the six-match campaign three points clear of the Kosovans, whose one loss was at the hands of the pool winners.

The Kosovan squad feature ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic top scorer – in a squad targeting a maiden international competition appearance.

They have not yet played the Welsh team.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated only one time in the qualifiers, and claimed a point more than the Welsh achieved in their eight games, but nonetheless ended two points behind of their group winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from securing a place at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians ensured the pair tied in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.

The Welsh have not managed to defeat the Bosnian side in 4 matches but did have a unforgettable loss against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

Being his country's all-time leading scorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's standout player.

The veteran was his team's leading goalscorer in qualifying with 5 goals.

And finally, we have Ireland.

Having secured only a single point from their opening 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the play-offs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to secure runner-up place in their group in dramatic style.

Key player Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his team's resurgence while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting jersey his to keep.

Ireland are without a win in their past four encounters with the Welsh, losing three of those, though James McClean shattered the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.

Peter Martinez
Peter Martinez

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