Craig Bellamy's squad Ready to Challenge Anybody in FIFA World Cup Playoff Draw

Wales football team celebration

Wales have won 8 of their previous 16 matches under coach Craig Bellamy

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

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

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

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

"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mentality is 'bring on whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw said.

"Many fans were asking recently, 'should we actually want Republic of Ireland as it's that local feel?'. In my view many people were hesitant. But for me, that could be incredible.

"It's one of those, yes, we'll take the Kosovans or the Bosnians and the Albanians are decent and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they are a capable team so it will be challenging.

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

Potential Play-off Semi-final Opponents Evaluated

Wales are placed thirty-fourth in the world standings, with Albania 61st, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia seventy-fifth and Kosovo eighty-fourth.

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

The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's more notable players, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their goal chart in qualifying with three goals.

Importantly, Albania have never earned a spot for a World Cup, although they featured at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, failing to reach the knockout stages on both occasions.

While Slovenia and Sweden had difficult runs, with both not managing to win a qualification match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland ended the six-game qualifiers 3 points ahead of Kosovo, whose single defeat came at the hands of the group winners.

The Kosovan squad include ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time top scorer – in a team aiming for a first international competition appearance.

They have not yet faced Wales.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated just once 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 a quarter of an hour away from clinching a place at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians ensured the teams tied in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.

Wales have not managed to beat the Bosnians in four attempts but experienced 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 top goalscorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's standout player.

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

And finally, we have Ireland.

After taken only a single point from their first 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the playoffs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

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

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his side's revival while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one position his to keep.

Ireland are without a win in their last 4 meetings with Wales, defeated in 3 of those, although James McClean shattered the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.

Maurice Moody Jr.
Maurice Moody Jr.

A passionate gamer and tech writer with years of experience in reviewing the latest games and sharing actionable strategies for players of all levels.