Craig Bellamy's squad Set to Take on Anybody in FIFA World Cup Play-off Draw

Wales football team celebration

The team has secured 8 of their previous 16 matches with manager Craig Bellamy

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

After finished second in their qualifying group following a dominant 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – Wales will play the semi-final match on their own turf.

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

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw believes the Welsh squad will welcome a match against whichever opponent following their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mindset is 'give us anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw said.

"Many people were saying last night, 'do we really want Ireland as it's that derby feel?'. In my view many supporters were hesitant. But for me, that could be fantastic.

"It's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take Kosovo or the Bosnians and the Albanians are competitive and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they are a capable team so they'll be tough.

"But 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 Play-off Semi-final Rivals Evaluated

The Welsh squad are placed 34th in the world rankings, with Albania sixty-first, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and Kosovo eighty-fourth.

The Albanian national team had a solid qualifying campaign, with their sole losses coming at the hands of their group winners England, who claimed full points without conceding a single goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's more notable players, though it was former 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 World Cup, though they featured at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, not managing to advance to the knockout stages on both times.

While Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid runs, with both not managing to win a qualification match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland finished the six-game campaign three points clear of Kosovo, whose single loss was at the hands of the pool winners.

The Kosovan squad feature ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time top scorer – in a squad targeting a first major tournament appearance.

They have not yet faced the Welsh team.

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

Wales have failed to defeat the Bosnian side in 4 matches but did have a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite losing.

Being his country's all-time top goalscorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's star player.

The veteran was his squad's top scorer in qualifying with five goals.

Lastly, we have Ireland.

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

Troy Parrott netted the two goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to take runner-up place in Group F in thrilling fashion.

Key player Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his side's revival while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting jersey his own.

Ireland are without a win in their last four meetings with the Welsh, defeated in three of those, although James McClean shattered the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.

Cole Parker
Cole Parker

A passionate gamer and strategist with years of experience in competitive gaming and content creation.