Wales Ready to Take on Anybody in World Cup Qualifying Draw

Wales football team celebration

The team has secured 8 of their last sixteen matches with manager Craig Bellamy

The team's sights are squarely on the upcoming World Cup playoff fixture as they await learning their semi-final and possible final challengers.

After finished as runners-up in their qualifying pool following a commanding 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – the side will host the semi-final encounter 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.

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw thinks the Dragons will relish a match against any opponent following their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mentality is 'give us anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw commented.

"A lot of supporters were saying last night, 'should we actually want Republic of Ireland because of that derby feel?'. In my view a number of supporters didn't. But personally, that would be amazing.

"It's one of those, indeed, we're ready for Kosovo or the Bosnians and the Albanians are competitive and Ireland, naturally, they are a strong team so it will be difficult.

"However you just feel that we'll take anyone at the moment and we're confident, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Potential Play-off Semi-final Rivals Assessed

Wales are placed thirty-fourth in the FIFA standings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side 84th.

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

Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's more notable names, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their scoring tally in qualifying with 3 goals.

It is worth noting, the Albanians have never earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, although they featured at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, failing to reach the knockout stages on each times.

While Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid campaigns, with both not managing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland finished the six-match campaign three points clear of the Kosovans, whose single defeat came at the hands of the group winners.

Kosovo include former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic leading goalscorer – in a squad aiming for a maiden major tournament appearance.

They have never faced Wales.

Bosnia lost only one time in the qualifiers, and earned a points additional than Wales managed in their eight games, but nonetheless ended 2 points adrift of their group winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from clinching a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians meant the teams drew in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.

Wales have failed to defeat the Bosnian side in four matches but experienced a unforgettable defeat against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

As his country's all-time leading scorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's key player.

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

Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.

Having taken only a single point from their opening three qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the play-offs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott netted both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a hat-trick – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to take second place in their group in dramatic style.

Key player Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his side's resurgence while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting position his to keep.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their last 4 meetings with Wales, defeated in three of those, although James McClean shattered the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.

Lori Williams
Lori Williams

A tech enthusiast and business strategist with over a decade of experience in digital transformation and startup consulting.