Wales Set to Face Anybody in World Cup Qualifying Draw

Wales football team celebration

Wales have secured eight of their last 16 matches under manager Craig Bellamy

Wales' sights are firmly on the upcoming World Cup play-off fixture as they prepare for discovering their semi-final and possible final opponents.

Having finished second in their qualification group following a commanding 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – the side will host the semifinal encounter on their own turf.

They will play against either Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo or Ireland in that match on 26 March.

Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw feels the Dragons will welcome a tie against whichever opponent following their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mentality is 'give us whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw said.

"Many fans were asking last night, 'should we actually want Ireland because of that local atmosphere?'. I think many people didn't. But personally, that would be fantastic.

"So it's one of those, yes, we'll take Kosovo or the Bosnians and the Albanians are competitive and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they're a strong team so they'll be difficult.

"But you just feel that we'll take anybody right now and we're confident, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Potential Play-off Semi-final Rivals Assessed

Wales are placed thirty-fourth in the world standings, with Albania 61st, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia 75th and Kosovo eighty-fourth.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a impressive qualifying campaign, with their sole losses coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed full points without conceding a solitary goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's prominent names, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their goal chart in the qualifiers with three goals.

It is worth noting, the Albanians have not yet qualified for a FIFA World Cup, though they featured at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, failing to reach the last 16 on each times.

While Slovenia and Sweden had difficult runs, with each failing to win a qualification match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Swiss finished the six-match qualifiers 3 points clear of the Kosovans, whose single loss was at the hands of the pool winners.

Kosovo include ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic leading goalscorer – in a squad targeting a first major tournament appearance.

They have never played the Welsh team.

Bosnia were defeated only one time in the qualifiers, and earned a point more than Wales achieved in their eight games, but nonetheless ended 2 points behind of Group H winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from securing a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the teams drew in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.

Wales have failed to beat the Bosnians in 4 matches but did have a unforgettable loss against the Dragons as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite losing.

Being his nation's historic top goalscorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's standout player.

The veteran was his team's leading goalscorer in qualifying 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 back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to take second spot in Group F in thrilling style.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his side's resurgence while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting position his own.

Ireland are winless in their past 4 meetings with Wales, losing three of these, although James McClean shattered the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.

Timothy Stanton
Timothy Stanton

Elara is a sustainability advocate and tech innovator, passionate about creating eco-friendly solutions for global challenges.

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