The Welsh team Set to Face Anybody in World Cup Qualifying Draw

Wales' focus are squarely on the upcoming World Cup play-off fixture as they prepare for discovering their semi-final and possible final rivals.

After ended as runners-up in their qualification group thanks to a dominant 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – Wales will play the semi-final encounter on their own turf.

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

Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw thinks the Welsh squad will welcome a match against whichever team after their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mindset is 'bring on whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw stated.

"A lot of people were wondering last night, 'do we really want Republic of Ireland because of that local atmosphere?'. In my view a number of supporters were hesitant. But for me, that would be incredible.

"So it's that type of situation, yes, we're ready for the Kosovans or the Bosnians and the Albanians are competitive and Ireland, of course, they are a strong team so they'll be tough.

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

Possible Play-off Semi-final Opponents Assessed

The Welsh squad are placed 34th in the world standings, with the Albanian team 61st, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side 84th.

Albania enjoyed a impressive qualification campaign, with their only losses coming at the hands of their group winners England, who secured maximum points without allowing a single goal.

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

Notably, the Albanians have not yet qualified for a World Cup, though they featured at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, not managing to advance to the knockout stages on each times.

While Slovenia and Sweden endured difficult campaigns, with each failing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Swiss finished the six-match campaign three points clear of Kosovo, whose one defeat was at the hands of the group winners.

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

They have not yet faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia lost just once in the qualifiers, and earned a points more than Wales achieved in their eight games, but still finished two points behind of their group winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from clinching a place 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 topped the group.

Wales have failed to defeat the Bosnian side in four matches but did have a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

As his nation's all-time top goalscorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player.

The 39-year-old was his squad's leading goalscorer in qualifying with five goals.

And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.

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

Troy Parrott netted the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a hat-trick – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to secure second place in their group in thrilling fashion.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his side's resurgence while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting jersey his to keep.

Ireland are without a win in their past four meetings with the Welsh, defeated in 3 of those, though James McClean broke the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.