Craig Bellamy's squad Ready to Challenge Anyone in World Cup Qualifying Fixture
The team has won 8 of their previous sixteen matches with manager Craig Bellamy
The team's focus are firmly on Thursday's World Cup play-off draw as they prepare for discovering their semifinal and possible final opponents.
Having finished as runners-up in their qualifying pool following a decisive 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – the side will play the semifinal match on their own turf.
They will face either Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo or Ireland in that match on 26 March.
Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw believes the Welsh squad will relish a tie against whichever opponent after their most recent performance 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 stated.
"Many fans were wondering recently, 'should we actually want Ireland as it's that derby atmosphere?'. In my view a number of people didn't. But for me, that would be fantastic.
"It's that type of situation, yes, we're ready for Kosovo or Bosnia and the Albanians are decent and Republic of Ireland, naturally, 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 a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."
Possible Playoff Semifinal Rivals Assessed
Wales are placed thirty-fourth in the FIFA standings, with Albania sixty-first, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and Kosovo 84th.
Albania had a solid qualifying run, with their sole defeats coming at the hands of their group winners England, who claimed full points without conceding a solitary goal.
The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's recognizable names, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their goal tally in qualifying with three goals.
Notably, Albania have not yet earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, although they participated at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, not managing to advance to the knockout stages on each times.
As Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid runs, with each not managing to win a qualification match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.
The Switzerland finished the six-game qualifiers 3 points ahead of the Kosovans, whose single loss came at the hands of the pool winners.
Kosovo feature ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic leading goalscorer – in a squad targeting a maiden major tournament appearance.
They have never faced Wales.
Bosnia lost only one time in the qualifiers, and earned a point additional than Wales achieved in their 8 games, but still finished two points behind of Group H winners Austria.
They were a quarter of an hour away from securing a place at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the teams drew in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.
Wales have failed to beat the Bosnian side in four attempts but did have a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.
As his country's all-time leading scorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's standout player.
The 39-year-old was his squad's top scorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.
And finally, we have Ireland.
After taken just one point from their opening three matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed 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 final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to take runner-up spot in their group in thrilling fashion.
Talisman Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his side's revival while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one jersey his to keep.
Ireland are without a win in their last four encounters with the Welsh, losing three of those, although James McClean shattered the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.
