Craig Bellamy's squad Set to Challenge Anybody in FIFA World Cup Play-off Draw
The team has won eight of their last sixteen matches with manager Craig Bellamy
The team's attention are squarely on the upcoming World Cup playoff draw as they await learning their semi-final and possible final challengers.
Having finished second in their qualifying group following a dominant 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – the side will play the semi-final encounter on home soil.
They will play against either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Kosovan team or Republic of Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.
Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw thinks the Welsh squad will embrace a match against any team after their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his approach is 'give us whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw commented.
"A lot of fans were wondering last night, 'do we actually want Republic of Ireland because of that derby atmosphere?'. In my view many supporters didn't. But personally, that could be fantastic.
"So it's one of those, yes, we're ready for Kosovo or Bosnia and the Albanians are decent and Ireland, naturally, they're a capable team so they'll be difficult.
"But you just feel that we'll take anyone right now and we're confident, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."
Possible Playoff Semifinal Opponents Reviewed
The Welsh squad sit thirty-fourth in the world standings, with Albania 61st, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.
The Albanian national team enjoyed a impressive qualification run, with their only defeats coming at the hands of their group winners England, who secured maximum points without conceding a solitary goal.
The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's recognizable players, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their goal tally in the qualifiers with three goals.
It is worth noting, Albania have never qualified for a World Cup, although they featured at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, not managing to advance to the last 16 on each occasions.
As Slovenia and Sweden had torrid runs, with each not managing to win a qualification match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.
The Swiss finished the six-match qualifiers 3 points ahead of Kosovo, whose single loss came at the hands of the pool winners.
Kosovo feature ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time top scorer – in a team targeting a maiden major tournament appearance.
They have not yet played the Welsh team.
Bosnia-Herzegovina lost only one time in the qualifiers, and earned a points more than the Welsh managed in their eight games, but still ended 2 points behind of Group H winners Austria.
They were 13 minutes away from clinching a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians ensured the pair drew in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.
Wales have not managed to beat the Bosnian side in 4 attempts but experienced a memorable loss against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.
As his nation's all-time top goalscorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's star player.
The veteran was his squad's top scorer in qualifying with 5 goals.
And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.
After taken just one point from their first 3 qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the play-offs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott netted the two goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a hat-trick – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to secure runner-up place in Group F in dramatic fashion.
Key player Seamus Coleman played a vital 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 without a win in their last four encounters with the Welsh, losing three of these, though James McClean shattered the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.
