The Welsh team Ready to Take on Anyone in World Cup Play-off Draw

Wales football team celebration

Wales have won 8 of their recent sixteen matches with coach Craig Bellamy

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

After ended second in their qualification pool thanks to a commanding 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – the side will play the semi-final encounter on their own turf.

They will play against either the Albanian side, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.

Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw believes the Dragons will relish a tie against whichever team after their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his approach is 'bring on anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw commented.

"A lot of supporters were asking recently, 'do we actually want Republic of Ireland because of that derby feel?'. I think many people didn't. But personally, that would be amazing.

"It's one of those, indeed, we'll take the Kosovans or the Bosnians and the Albanians are decent and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they are a very good team so they'll be difficult.

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

Possible Playoff Semi-final Opponents Reviewed

The Welsh squad sit 34th in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia seventy-fifth and Kosovo 84th.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a impressive qualifying run, with their only losses coming at the hands of their group winners England, who secured full points without allowing a solitary goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's more notable players, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their scoring tally in the qualifiers with three goals.

Importantly, the Albanians have not yet qualified for a World Cup, though they featured at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, failing to reach the knockout stages on each occasions.

As Slovenia and Sweden had poor campaigns, with both not managing to win a qualification match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Switzerland ended the six-match campaign 3 points ahead of the Kosovans, whose single defeat was at the hands of the pool winners.

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

They have not yet played the Welsh team.

Bosnia lost only one time in qualifying, and claimed a points more than Wales managed in their 8 games, but nonetheless finished two points behind of their group winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from securing a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians ensured the pair drew in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the pool.

The Welsh have failed to defeat the Bosnians in four attempts but did have a memorable loss against Zmajevi as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after losing.

As his country's all-time top goalscorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player.

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

And finally, we have Ireland.

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

Troy Parrott netted both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to secure second spot in Group F in thrilling fashion.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his team's revival while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting position his to keep.

Ireland are winless in their last four meetings with the Welsh, defeated in three of those, though 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.

Steve Pruitt
Steve Pruitt

A linguist and writer passionate about bridging cultures through language, with over a decade of experience in global communications.