Craig Bellamy's squad Prepared to Take on Anyone in World Cup Playoff Fixture

Wales football team celebration

Wales have secured 8 of their last 16 matches with manager Craig Bellamy

Wales' focus are firmly on the upcoming World Cup play-off draw as they prepare for discovering their semifinal and possible final opponents.

After ended as runners-up in their qualifying group thanks to a dominant 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – Wales will host the semifinal match on home soil.

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 Welsh squad will welcome a match against whichever team after their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.

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

"A lot of fans were saying last night, 'should we actually want Ireland because of that local atmosphere?'. I think a number of people were hesitant. But for me, that would be amazing.

"So it's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take the Kosovans or Bosnia and Albania are competitive and Ireland, of course, they're a strong team so they'll be tough.

"However you just feel that we're prepared for anybody right now and we're confident, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Possible Play-off Semi-final Rivals Reviewed

Wales are placed 34th in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia seventy-fifth and Kosovo 84th.

The Albanian national team had a solid qualifying run, with their only losses suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed full points without conceding a single goal.

Burnley'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 forward Rey Manaj who led their goal tally in qualifying with 3 goals.

It is worth noting, the Albanians have not yet qualified for a World Cup, though they participated at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, not managing to advance to the last 16 on both times.

As Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid runs, with both not managing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland ended the six-match qualifiers three points clear of Kosovo, whose one loss was at the hands of the group winners.

Kosovo include ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time top scorer – in a squad targeting a maiden major tournament appearance.

They have not yet played Wales.

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

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

Wales have not managed to defeat the Bosnian side in four attempts but experienced a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

Being his country's all-time leading scorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's standout player.

The 39-year-old was his squad's top scorer in qualifying with 5 goals.

And finally, we have Ireland.

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

Troy Parrott netted both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to secure second spot in their group in thrilling style.

Key player Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his team's resurgence while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one position his own.

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

Katelyn Salinas
Katelyn Salinas

Elara is a digital storyteller and narrative designer with a passion for crafting immersive experiences that blend technology and creativity.