Craig Bellamy's squad Ready to Challenge Anybody in FIFA World Cup Playoff Fixture

The team's attention are firmly on the upcoming World Cup playoff draw as they prepare for discovering their semifinal and possible final rivals.

Having ended as runners-up in their qualifying group thanks to a dominant 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – Wales will host the semifinal match on home soil.

They will meet either the Albanian side, Bosnia, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that match on 26 March.

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw thinks the Dragons will welcome a tie against any team following their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his approach is 'bring on whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw commented.

"Many fans were saying last night, 'do we actually want Republic of Ireland because of that local atmosphere?'. I think many people were hesitant. But for me, that could be amazing.

"So it's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take Kosovo or Bosnia and the Albanians are decent and Ireland, naturally, they are a strong team so they'll be tough.

"However 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 Play-off Semi-final Rivals Assessed

Wales sit thirty-fourth in the FIFA rankings, with Albania 61st, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a strong qualifying run, with their only defeats coming at the hands of their group winners England, who claimed maximum 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 former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their scoring chart in qualifying with three goals.

Notably, the Albanians have never earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, although they participated at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, failing to advance to the knockout stages on both occasions.

As Slovenia and Sweden endured difficult campaigns, with both not managing to win a qualification match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Swiss finished the six-game campaign three points ahead of the Kosovans, whose single loss came at the hands of the pool winners.

The Kosovan squad feature ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time top scorer – in a team aiming for a maiden international competition appearance.

They have not yet played Wales.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated just once in the qualifiers, and earned a point more than the Welsh managed in their 8 games, but nonetheless ended two points behind of their group winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from securing a place at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians ensured the pair tied in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the pool.

Wales have not managed to defeat the Bosnian side in four matches but experienced a unforgettable loss against the Dragons as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

As his country's all-time top goalscorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's standout player.

The 39-year-old was his squad's top scorer in qualifying with 5 goals.

Lastly, we have Ireland.

Having taken only a single point from their first 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the playoffs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to take runner-up place in Group F in dramatic style.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his team's resurgence while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting jersey his own.

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