Wales Ready to Face Anybody in FIFA World Cup Playoff Draw

Wales' focus are firmly on the upcoming World Cup play-off draw as they await learning their semi-final and potential final rivals.

Having finished as runners-up in their qualification group thanks to a dominant 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – the side will play the semifinal match on their own turf.

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

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw believes the Welsh squad will welcome a match against whichever team following their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his approach is 'give us whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw stated.

"Many supporters were asking recently, 'do we actually want Republic of Ireland as it's that derby feel?'. I think a number of supporters were hesitant. But for me, that could be amazing.

"It's that type of situation, yes, we'll take the Kosovans or the Bosnians and Albania are decent and Republic of Ireland, of course, they are a capable team so they'll be tough.

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

Possible Playoff Semi-final Opponents Assessed

Wales are placed thirty-fourth in the FIFA rankings, with Albania sixty-first, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia 75th and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.

The Albanian national team had a impressive qualifying campaign, with their sole defeats suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured maximum points without allowing a solitary goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's prominent names, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their scoring tally in qualifying with three goals.

Notably, Albania have not yet qualified for a FIFA World Cup, though they participated at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, failing to reach the last 16 on both occasions.

As Slovenia and Sweden had torrid runs, with each failing to win a qualification match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland ended the six-game campaign three points ahead of Kosovo, whose one defeat was at the hands of the group winners.

Kosovo feature former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic top scorer – in a team aiming for a first major tournament appearance.

They have not yet faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia-Herzegovina lost only one time in qualifying, and earned a points additional than the Welsh managed in their eight games, but nonetheless finished 2 points behind of Group H winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from securing a place at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians meant the teams drew in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the pool.

The Welsh have not managed to defeat the Bosnian side in four matches but did have a unforgettable defeat against the Dragons as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after losing.

Being his nation's historic top goalscorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's key player.

The veteran was his squad's top scorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.

Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.

After secured just one point from their opening 3 qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the playoffs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott netted both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to secure runner-up place in their group in dramatic fashion.

Talisman Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his team's resurgence while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting position his to keep.

Ireland are winless in their last 4 encounters with the Welsh, losing three of these, although James McClean broke the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.