Craig Bellamy's squad Set to Face Anybody in World Cup Play-off Fixture

Wales football team celebration

The team has secured 8 of their recent 16 matches under manager Craig Bellamy

The team's attention are firmly on Thursday's World Cup play-off draw as they await discovering their semi-final and potential final rivals.

After finished second in their qualification group thanks to a decisive 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – Wales will host the semifinal encounter on their own turf.

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

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

"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mindset is 'give us whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw said.

"Many people were asking last night, 'do we actually want Republic of Ireland as it's that derby feel?'. I think a number of people didn't. But personally, that could be incredible.

"It's one of those, yes, we'll take the Kosovans or Bosnia and Albania are competitive and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they're a capable team so they'll be challenging.

"However the sense is that we're prepared for anyone at the moment and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semi-final Opponents Reviewed

Wales are placed 34th in the world rankings, with the Albanian team 61st, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia 75th and Kosovo eighty-fourth.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a solid qualification campaign, with their only defeats coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured full points without conceding a single goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's prominent names, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their goal chart in the qualifiers with three goals.

It is worth noting, the Albanians have not yet earned a spot for a World Cup, though they participated at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, not managing to reach the last 16 on each occasions.

As Slovenia and Sweden had poor runs, with each failing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland finished the six-match qualifiers 3 points clear of the Kosovans, whose one defeat came at the hands of the group winners.

The Kosovan squad include ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time leading goalscorer – in a team targeting a first international competition appearance.

They have not yet played Wales.

Bosnia-Herzegovina lost only one time in the qualifiers, and claimed a points more than the Welsh achieved in their 8 games, but nonetheless finished two points adrift of their group winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from clinching a place at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians ensured the pair tied in the final game of qualification 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 Zmajevi as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after losing.

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

The veteran was his squad's top scorer in the qualifiers with five goals.

Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.

After secured only a single point from their first 3 qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the playoffs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott netted both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to secure runner-up place in Group F in dramatic fashion.

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

Ireland are without a win in their last 4 encounters with the Welsh, losing 3 of those, though James McClean shattered the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.

Mark Sanchez
Mark Sanchez

A passionate writer and tech enthusiast who loves sharing insights to help others navigate modern challenges.