Wales Ready to Challenge Anybody in World Cup Play-off Fixture
The team has secured 8 of their last sixteen matches with coach Craig Bellamy
The team's focus are firmly on the upcoming World Cup play-off fixture as they await discovering their semifinal and potential final opponents.
After finished second in their qualification group thanks to a commanding 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – the side will play the semi-final match on their own turf.
They will play against either the Albanian side, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that match on 26 March.
Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw thinks the Dragons will embrace a tie against whichever team after their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mentality is 'give us anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw said.
"A lot of people were saying recently, 'should we really want Republic of Ireland as it's that local feel?'. I think many people didn't. But personally, that could be incredible.
"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 are a capable team so they'll be tough.
"But the sense is that we'll take anyone at the moment and it doesn't matter, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."
Potential Play-off Semi-final Rivals Evaluated
Wales are placed 34th in the FIFA rankings, with Albania 61st, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia seventy-fifth and Kosovo 84th.
Albania enjoyed a solid qualification run, with their sole losses coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed maximum points without allowing a single goal.
The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's prominent names, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their goal chart in qualifying with 3 goals.
It is worth noting, Albania have not yet qualified for a World Cup, though they featured at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, not managing to advance to the knockout stages on each times.
As Slovenia and Sweden had difficult campaigns, with each failing to win a qualification match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.
The Swiss finished the six-game campaign 3 points clear of the Kosovans, whose one loss came at the hands of the group winners.
The Kosovan squad include former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic top scorer – in a team targeting a maiden major tournament appearance.
They have not yet played Wales.
Bosnia were defeated only one time in the qualifiers, and claimed a points additional than the Welsh managed in their eight games, but still finished two points adrift of their group winners Austria.
They were 13 minutes away from securing a place at the finals, 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 failed to defeat the Bosnians in 4 matches but did have a unforgettable loss against Zmajevi as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.
As his country's all-time leading scorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's key player.
The veteran was his squad's leading goalscorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.
And finally, we have Ireland.
After secured just one point from their first three qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the play-offs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott scored both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to secure runner-up spot in Group F in dramatic style.
Key player Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his team's revival while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting jersey his own.
Ireland are without a win in their last 4 meetings with Wales, losing three of these, though James McClean shattered the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.