Craig Bellamy's squad Set to Face Anyone in World Cup Play-off Draw

Wales' attention are firmly on Thursday's World Cup play-off fixture as they prepare for discovering their semi-final and potential final opponents.

After finished second in their qualifying pool thanks to a commanding 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – Wales will play the semi-final match 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 striker Rob Earnshaw believes the Welsh squad will embrace a match against any opponent after their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mindset is 'bring on whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw said.

"A lot of supporters were asking last night, 'do we really want Ireland because of that local feel?'. I think a number of people didn't. But for me, that would be incredible.

"It's that type of situation, yes, we're ready for Kosovo or the Bosnians and Albania are decent and Ireland, naturally, they're a capable team so they'll be difficult.

"However the sense is that we're prepared for anyone right now and it doesn't matter, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semi-final Rivals Evaluated

The Welsh squad sit 34th in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and Kosovo eighty-fourth.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a impressive qualification run, with their only losses suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who secured full points without conceding a solitary goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's more notable players, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their goal chart in the qualifiers with 3 goals.

It is worth noting, Albania have never qualified for a FIFA World Cup, though they featured at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, failing to reach the last 16 on both times.

While Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid runs, with each not managing to win a qualification match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Swiss finished the six-match campaign 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 nation's all-time top scorer – in a squad targeting a maiden international competition appearance.

They have not yet faced Wales.

Bosnia-Herzegovina lost just once in the qualifiers, and claimed a point more than Wales achieved in their eight games, but nonetheless finished 2 points adrift of Group H winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from securing a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians meant the teams tied in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.

Wales have not managed to beat the Bosnians in four matches but experienced a memorable loss against the Dragons as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after losing.

Being his country's historic top goalscorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's standout player.

The 39-year-old was his squad's leading goalscorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.

And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.

Having secured only a single point from their opening three matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the playoffs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott netted both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to secure second spot in Group F in thrilling style.

Talisman Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his team's resurgence while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one position his own.

Ireland are winless in their past four encounters with Wales, defeated in 3 of these, although James McClean broke the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.