Craig Bellamy's squad Set to Face Anyone in FIFA World Cup Play-off Fixture

Wales football team celebration

Wales have secured eight of their recent sixteen matches with manager Craig Bellamy

The team's sights are squarely on the upcoming World Cup playoff fixture as they await discovering their semifinal and possible final opponents.

After finished as runners-up in their qualifying group following a dominant 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – the side will host the semi-final match on home soil.

They will face either the Albanian side, Bosnia, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that match on 26 March.

Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw believes the Dragons will welcome a match against any opponent after their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mentality is 'bring on whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw said.

"A lot of people were asking last night, 'should we actually want Republic of Ireland because of that local atmosphere?'. In my view many people were hesitant. But personally, that could be fantastic.

"It's that type of situation, indeed, we're ready for the Kosovans or the Bosnians and the Albanians are decent and Republic of Ireland, of course, they're a very good team so they'll be tough.

"But you just feel that we'll take anyone right now and we're confident, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

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Wales sit thirty-fourth in the world rankings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia 75th and the Kosovan side 84th.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a strong qualifying campaign, with their only defeats suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed full points without allowing a solitary goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's prominent players, although 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 never earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, though they featured at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, not managing to reach the knockout stages on both occasions.

As Slovenia and Sweden endured poor runs, with both not managing to win a qualification match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.

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

The Kosovan squad feature ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic leading goalscorer – in a team aiming for a first international competition appearance.

They have never played Wales.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated only one time in qualifying, and earned a point more than the Welsh managed in their 8 games, but still ended two points behind of their group winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from clinching a place at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians ensured the teams drew in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.

The Welsh have not managed to defeat the Bosnian side in 4 attempts but experienced a unforgettable loss against the Dragons as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after losing.

As his country's historic top goalscorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's key player.

The veteran was his team's top scorer in the qualifiers with five goals.

Lastly, we have Ireland.

After secured only a single point from their first three qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the playoffs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott netted both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a hat-trick – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to take second place in their group in thrilling fashion.

Talisman Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his side's revival while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting jersey his to keep.

Ireland are without a win in their past 4 encounters with the Welsh, losing three of those, though James McClean shattered the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.

Laura Simmons
Laura Simmons

Award-winning voice artist and audio producer with over a decade of experience in broadcasting and digital media.

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