Wales Prepared to Face Anybody in FIFA World Cup Playoff Draw

Wales' sights are squarely on Thursday's World Cup playoff fixture as they await discovering their semifinal and possible final challengers.

After ended second in their qualifying group thanks to a decisive 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – the side will host the semi-final encounter on their own turf.

They will play against either Albania, Bosnia, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that match on 26 March.

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Dragons will embrace a match against whichever team following their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mindset is 'bring on whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw commented.

"A lot of supporters were wondering recently, 'should we really want Ireland because of that derby atmosphere?'. In my view a number of people were hesitant. But for me, that would be incredible.

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

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

Possible Playoff Semifinal Rivals Evaluated

The Welsh squad sit 34th in the world rankings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and Kosovo 84th.

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

The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's prominent names, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their scoring chart in the qualifiers with 3 goals.

Importantly, the Albanians have not yet qualified for a FIFA World Cup, although they participated at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, not managing to reach the knockout stages on both occasions.

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

The Switzerland ended the six-game campaign 3 points clear of Kosovo, whose single loss came at the hands of the group winners.

Kosovo include ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic top scorer – in a squad targeting a maiden international competition appearance.

They have not yet faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia lost only one time in the qualifiers, and claimed a points additional than the Welsh achieved in their 8 games, but nonetheless ended two points behind of Group H winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from clinching a place at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians meant the pair drew in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.

The Welsh have failed to beat the Bosnians in four matches but experienced a unforgettable defeat against the Dragons as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after losing.

Being his country's historic top goalscorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's key 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 surged into the playoffs with successive 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 coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to take runner-up spot in their group in dramatic fashion.

Key player Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his side's revival while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting jersey his to keep.

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