Craig Bellamy's squad Prepared to Take on Anybody in World Cup Qualifying Fixture

Wales football team celebration

Wales have won eight of their previous sixteen matches under coach Craig Bellamy

The team's focus are firmly on the upcoming World Cup playoff draw as they await discovering their semifinal and possible final opponents.

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

They will meet either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo or Republic of Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.

Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw believes the Welsh squad will embrace a match against whichever team following their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

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

"A lot of people were wondering recently, 'should we really want Republic of Ireland as it's that derby feel?'. In my view a number of people didn't. But personally, that could be incredible.

"It's that type of situation, yes, we're ready for the Kosovans or Bosnia and the Albanians are decent and Ireland, of course, they are a capable team so they'll be difficult.

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

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The Welsh squad sit 34th in the FIFA standings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and the Kosovan side 84th.

Albania enjoyed a strong qualifying campaign, with their sole defeats suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who claimed full points without conceding a single goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's prominent players, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their goal chart in the qualifiers with three goals.

It is worth noting, the Albanians have not yet qualified for a World Cup, although they featured at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, failing to advance to the last 16 on both times.

While Slovenia and Sweden had poor campaigns, with each not managing to win a qualifying match, their group was a straight shootout 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 former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time top scorer – in a team targeting a maiden major tournament appearance.

They have not yet played the Welsh team.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated only one time in the qualifiers, and earned a point more than the Welsh managed in their 8 games, but still ended 2 points adrift 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 leveler for the Austrians meant the pair tied in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.

The Welsh have failed to defeat the Bosnians in 4 matches but experienced a unforgettable loss against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

As his nation's historic leading scorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's star player.

The veteran was his squad's leading goalscorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.

Lastly, we have Ireland.

Having taken only a single point from their opening three qualifiers, 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 arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to take second spot in their group in dramatic style.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his side's revival while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one position his to keep.

The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their past four meetings with Wales, losing 3 of those, although James McClean broke the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.

Samuel Vaughn
Samuel Vaughn

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