Craig Bellamy's squad Prepared to Take on Anybody in FIFA World Cup Qualifying Fixture

Wales football team celebration

Wales have won 8 of their recent sixteen matches under coach Craig Bellamy

The team's focus are squarely on the upcoming World Cup playoff fixture as they prepare for discovering their semi-final and possible final rivals.

Having ended second in their qualifying group following a decisive 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – Wales will host the semi-final encounter on their own turf.

They will meet either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Kosovan team or Republic of Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Dragons will relish a tie against any opponent following their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his approach is 'give us anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw said.

"A lot of supporters were wondering recently, 'do we actually want Republic of Ireland as it's that local feel?'. In my view many people were hesitant. But personally, that could be fantastic.

"So it's one of those, indeed, we're ready for Kosovo or the Bosnians and Albania are decent and Ireland, naturally, they're a strong team so they'll be tough.

"But you just feel that we're prepared for anyone at the moment and we're confident, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semi-final Rivals Reviewed

The Welsh squad are placed thirty-fourth in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.

The Albanian national team had a strong qualification campaign, with their only losses coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured maximum points without conceding a solitary goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's prominent players, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their goal chart in qualifying with three goals.

It is worth noting, Albania have never earned a spot for a World Cup, though they featured at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, failing to advance to the knockout stages on each occasions.

While Slovenia and Sweden endured poor campaigns, with each not managing to win a qualification match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland ended the six-match campaign 3 points ahead of the Kosovans, whose single defeat was at the hands of the group winners.

The Kosovan squad feature ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time leading goalscorer – in a team aiming for a first international competition appearance.

They have not yet faced Wales.

Bosnia lost only one time in the qualifiers, and earned a points additional than Wales achieved in their 8 games, but still ended two points behind of their group winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from securing a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians ensured the pair drew in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.

The Welsh have not managed to defeat the Bosnian side in four attempts but did have a unforgettable loss against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after losing.

Being his nation's historic leading scorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's standout player.

The 39-year-old was his team's top scorer in qualifying with five goals.

And finally, we have Ireland.

Having secured only a single point from their first three matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the play-offs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a hat-trick – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to take runner-up spot in their group in dramatic fashion.

Key player Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his team's revival while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one position his to keep.

Ireland are without a win in their last 4 encounters with the Welsh, losing 3 of those, though James McClean broke the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.

Carla Walton
Carla Walton

A seasoned gambling analyst with over a decade of experience in the UK casino industry, specializing in game reviews and betting strategies.