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

Wales football team celebration

Wales have secured eight of their recent 16 matches with manager Craig Bellamy

The team's focus are squarely on Thursday's World Cup playoff draw as they prepare for discovering their semi-final and potential final opponents.

Having ended as runners-up in their qualifying group thanks to a dominant 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – the side will host the semi-final match on home soil.

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

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw thinks the Dragons will welcome a match against whichever team following their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his approach is 'give us whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw stated.

"Many supporters were wondering last night, 'do we actually want Republic of Ireland because of that local atmosphere?'. In my view a number of people didn't. But personally, that would be amazing.

"So it's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take the Kosovans or the Bosnians and Albania are decent and Ireland, of course, they are a capable team so it will be difficult.

"However the sense is that we'll take anybody right now and it doesn't matter, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semifinal Rivals Evaluated

Wales sit thirty-fourth in the FIFA rankings, with Albania 61st, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia seventy-fifth and Kosovo eighty-fourth.

Albania had a solid qualification run, with their sole defeats coming at the hands of their group winners England, who claimed maximum points without conceding a solitary goal.

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

Importantly, Albania have never earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, though they participated at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, failing to reach the last 16 on both times.

As Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid runs, with each failing to win a qualification match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Swiss finished the six-match campaign 3 points clear of the Kosovans, whose single defeat came at the hands of the group winners.

Kosovo feature former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time leading goalscorer – in a team aiming for a first international competition appearance.

They have never faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia lost only one time in qualifying, and earned a points more than Wales achieved in their eight games, but nonetheless finished two points behind of their group winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from securing a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians ensured the teams drew in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the pool.

The Welsh have failed to defeat the Bosnians in 4 matches but experienced a unforgettable loss against the Dragons as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

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

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

Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.

Having secured only a single point from their first 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the play-offs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored the two goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to secure runner-up place in Group F in dramatic fashion.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his team's revival while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting position his to keep.

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

Anthony Green
Anthony Green

A passionate gamer and tech writer with over a decade of experience covering video games and emerging trends in interactive entertainment.