Craig Bellamy's squad Ready to Face Whichever Opponent in World Cup Play-off Draw

Wales football team celebration

Wales have won 8 of their recent 16 matches with coach Craig Bellamy

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

After ended as runners-up in their qualification group following a commanding 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – Wales will play the semi-final encounter on home soil.

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

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw believes the Dragons will welcome a match against any team following their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mentality is 'bring on anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw stated.

"Many people were asking last night, 'should we really want Republic of Ireland because of that local atmosphere?'. I think many supporters didn't. But personally, that would be incredible.

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

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

Possible Playoff Semi-final Rivals Reviewed

Wales are placed 34th in the world standings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia 75th and Kosovo eighty-fourth.

Albania enjoyed a strong qualifying campaign, with their only defeats coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed full points without allowing a single goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's more notable players, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their goal tally in qualifying with three goals.

It is worth noting, the Albanians have never qualified for a World Cup, though they featured at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, failing to advance to the last 16 on each times.

As Slovenia and Sweden had torrid campaigns, with both failing to win a qualification match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland finished the six-game campaign three points clear of Kosovo, whose one defeat was at the hands of the pool winners.

The Kosovan squad feature former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic leading goalscorer – in a team aiming for a first major tournament appearance.

They have not yet played Wales.

Bosnia lost only one time in qualifying, and claimed a point more than Wales managed in their eight games, but nonetheless finished 2 points adrift 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 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 Bosnian side in four attempts but did have a memorable defeat against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

As his country's all-time leading scorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's key player.

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

And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.

After secured only a single point from their first three matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged 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 arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to secure second place in Group F in thrilling fashion.

Key player Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his side's revival while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one position his own.

The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their past 4 meetings with the Welsh, defeated in 3 of these, although James McClean shattered the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.

Angela Ruiz
Angela Ruiz

A tech enthusiast and gaming expert with over a decade of experience in streaming and content creation.