The Welsh team Set to Face Whichever Opponent in FIFA World Cup Play-off Draw
The team has secured 8 of their last sixteen matches with coach Craig Bellamy
The team's attention are firmly on the upcoming World Cup play-off draw as they await learning their semifinal and potential final challengers.
After finished second in their qualification pool following a dominant 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – the side will play the semifinal match on their own turf.
They will face either Albania, 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 whichever team following their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his approach is 'bring on anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw said.
"Many people were asking last night, 'do we actually want Republic of Ireland because of that derby feel?'. I think many people didn't. But personally, that would be fantastic.
"It's one of those, indeed, we're ready for the Kosovans or Bosnia and the Albanians are competitive and Republic of Ireland, of course, they are a strong team so they'll be tough.
"However you just feel that we'll take anybody at the moment and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."
Potential Play-off Semifinal Rivals Evaluated
The Welsh squad sit thirty-fourth in the FIFA rankings, with Albania 61st, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side 84th.
The Albanian national team had a solid qualifying campaign, with their only defeats coming at the hands of their group winners England, who secured maximum points without allowing a single goal.
The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's more notable players, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their goal tally in qualifying with 3 goals.
Notably, the Albanians have not yet earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, though they featured at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, failing to advance to the knockout stages on each times.
While Slovenia and Sweden had difficult campaigns, with both not managing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.
The Switzerland ended the six-game campaign 3 points ahead of the Kosovans, whose single defeat came at the hands of the pool winners.
The Kosovan squad feature former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic leading goalscorer – in a squad aiming for a maiden international competition appearance.
They have never played Wales.
Bosnia lost just once in qualifying, and earned a point additional than the Welsh achieved in their eight 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 equaliser for the Austrians ensured the teams drew in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.
Wales have failed to defeat the Bosnian side in 4 attempts but did have a unforgettable loss against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.
Being his country's all-time leading scorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player.
The 39-year-old was his squad's leading goalscorer in qualifying with five goals.
Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.
Having secured just one point from their first 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the playoffs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott netted both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to secure second spot in Group F in thrilling style.
Talisman Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his side's revival while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one jersey his own.
Ireland are winless in their last four meetings with the Welsh, defeated in 3 of these, though James McClean shattered the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.