Craig Bellamy's squad Set to Challenge Anyone in FIFA World Cup Qualifying Draw

Wales football team celebration

Wales have won 8 of their previous sixteen matches with manager Craig Bellamy

The team's attention are squarely on the upcoming World Cup play-off fixture as they prepare for learning their semifinal and potential final rivals.

Having finished second in their qualifying group following a dominant 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – Wales will host the semifinal match on home soil.

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

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will welcome a tie against any team following their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mentality is 'give us anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw stated.

"Many supporters were saying recently, 'should we really want Ireland as it's that derby atmosphere?'. I think many supporters were hesitant. But personally, that could be incredible.

"It's one of those, yes, we're ready for Kosovo or Bosnia and Albania are not bad and Ireland, of course, they are a very good team so it will be difficult.

"However you just feel that we're prepared for anyone right now and it doesn't matter, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Possible Play-off Semi-final Opponents Assessed

The Welsh squad are placed thirty-fourth in the world rankings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and the Kosovan side 84th.

Albania had a strong qualification run, with their sole defeats suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured maximum points without conceding a single goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's recognizable players, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their scoring chart in the qualifiers with three goals.

Notably, the Albanians have not yet qualified for a FIFA World Cup, although they featured at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, failing to reach the knockout stages on both occasions.

While Slovenia and Sweden had poor campaigns, with each failing to win a qualification match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland finished the six-game qualifiers 3 points ahead of Kosovo, whose one defeat was at the hands of the group winners.

Kosovo include former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time top scorer – in a squad aiming for a maiden international competition appearance.

They have never played the Welsh team.

Bosnia lost only one time in the qualifiers, and earned a point additional than Wales achieved in their 8 games, but nonetheless ended 2 points adrift of their group winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from clinching a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians ensured the teams tied in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.

Wales have not managed to defeat the Bosnian side in 4 matches but experienced a unforgettable loss against Zmajevi as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

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

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

Lastly, we have Ireland.

Having taken just one point from their first three qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the playoffs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored the two goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a hat-trick – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to secure second place in their group in thrilling fashion.

Key player Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his team's revival while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one jersey his to keep.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their last four meetings with the Welsh, losing 3 of those, though James McClean broke the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.

Lori Braun
Lori Braun

A seasoned gaming journalist with over a decade of experience in online casino reviews and player advocacy.