Craig Bellamy's squad Ready to Face Anybody in World Cup Playoff Fixture
The team has secured eight of their recent 16 matches with manager Craig Bellamy
The team's focus are squarely on Thursday's World Cup playoff fixture as they await discovering their semi-final and possible final rivals.
After ended second in their qualification pool thanks to a decisive 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – the side will play the semifinal encounter on their own turf.
They will face either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.
Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw believes the Dragons will welcome a match against whichever opponent after their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mindset is 'bring on anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw commented.
"A lot of supporters were wondering recently, 'should we really want Republic of Ireland as it's that local feel?'. I think many supporters were hesitant. But for me, that would be fantastic.
"So it's that type of situation, yes, we're ready for Kosovo or the Bosnians and Albania are decent and Ireland, naturally, they are a strong team so it will be difficult.
"But you just feel that we're prepared for anybody right now and we're confident, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."
Potential Playoff Semifinal Opponents Assessed
The Welsh squad are placed 34th in the world rankings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and Kosovo 84th.
The Albanian national team enjoyed a impressive qualification run, with their only defeats coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed maximum points without allowing a solitary goal.
Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's recognizable names, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their scoring tally in qualifying with 3 goals.
Importantly, Albania have not yet earned a spot for a World Cup, though they featured at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, not managing to advance to the knockout stages on both occasions.
As Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid runs, with each failing to win a qualification match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.
The Switzerland ended the six-match qualifiers three points ahead of the Kosovans, whose single loss was at the hands of the pool winners.
The Kosovan squad include former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic leading goalscorer – in a squad targeting a maiden major tournament appearance.
They have never played Wales.
Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated just once in the qualifiers, and earned a point additional than the Welsh achieved in their 8 games, but still ended two points behind of their group winners Austria.
They were 13 minutes away from securing a place at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians ensured the pair drew in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.
The Welsh have not managed to beat the Bosnian side in four attempts but experienced a unforgettable defeat against Zmajevi as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after losing.
As his nation's historic top goalscorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's standout player.
The veteran was his squad's leading goalscorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.
Lastly, we have Ireland.
Having taken just one point from their opening 3 qualifiers, Heimir HallgrĂmsson's side stormed into the playoffs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott netted the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to secure runner-up spot in their group in thrilling fashion.
Key player Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his team's resurgence while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one jersey his own.
Ireland are winless in their last four meetings with Wales, losing three of these, though James McClean broke the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.
