Craig Bellamy's squad Prepared to Take on Anyone in FIFA World Cup Playoff Draw

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

Having finished second in their qualification group following a commanding 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – the side will play the semifinal encounter on home soil.

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

Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw thinks the Welsh squad will welcome a tie against any opponent following their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his approach is 'bring on whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw said.

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

"It's that type of situation, indeed, we're ready for the Kosovans or the Bosnians and the Albanians are competitive and Ireland, of course, they are a very good team so it will be challenging.

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

Possible Play-off Semi-final Opponents Reviewed

Wales are placed thirty-fourth in the world rankings, with Albania sixty-first, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia seventy-fifth and Kosovo 84th.

Albania enjoyed a strong qualifying campaign, with their sole losses coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured full points without allowing a solitary goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's recognizable players, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their scoring tally in qualifying with 3 goals.

Importantly, Albania have not yet earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, although they featured at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, failing to reach the knockout stages on both times.

While Slovenia and Sweden had torrid campaigns, with each not managing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Swiss finished the six-game campaign three points ahead of Kosovo, whose one loss came at the hands of the pool winners.

The Kosovan squad feature ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time leading goalscorer – in a squad aiming for a first major tournament appearance.

They have not yet faced Wales.

Bosnia were defeated just once in qualifying, and earned a points more than Wales achieved in their eight games, but nonetheless finished two 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 meant the teams tied in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.

Wales have failed to beat the Bosnians in 4 matches but experienced a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after losing.

As his nation's historic leading scorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player.

The 39-year-old was his team's top scorer in qualifying with five goals.

And finally, we have Ireland.

Having taken only a single point from their opening 3 qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the play-offs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring 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 Group F in dramatic style.

Key player Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his team's revival while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting jersey his to keep.

The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their past 4 encounters with Wales, defeated in three of those, though James McClean shattered the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.