The Welsh team Ready to Face Anybody in World Cup Qualifying Draw

The team's focus are firmly on Thursday's World Cup play-off draw as they prepare for learning their semifinal and potential final opponents.

Having finished as runners-up in their qualifying group thanks to a commanding 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – the side will host the semi-final encounter on their own turf.

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

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will welcome a match against any opponent following their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mindset is 'give us whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw said.

"A lot of supporters were wondering last night, 'should we actually want Ireland because of that derby atmosphere?'. In my view many people were hesitant. But for me, that would be fantastic.

"It's one of those, yes, we'll take Kosovo or Bosnia and Albania are competitive and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they're a capable team so it will be difficult.

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

Potential Play-off Semi-final Opponents Evaluated

Wales are placed 34th in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia 75th and the Kosovan side 84th.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a strong qualification run, with their sole defeats coming at the hands of their group winners England, who claimed maximum points without conceding a solitary goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's prominent names, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their goal tally in qualifying with 3 goals.

Importantly, Albania have never earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, though they featured at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, failing to reach the last 16 on each times.

As Slovenia and Sweden endured poor runs, with each failing to win a qualifying match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Switzerland finished the six-match campaign three points ahead of Kosovo, whose one loss was at the hands of the pool winners.

The Kosovan squad include ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic leading goalscorer – in a squad aiming for a first international competition appearance.

They have never faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia lost just once in the qualifiers, and claimed a point more than the Welsh achieved in their 8 games, but nonetheless ended 2 points behind of Group H winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from securing a place at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians meant the pair tied in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.

Wales have failed to beat the Bosnians in 4 attempts but did have a memorable defeat against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after losing.

As his country's historic leading scorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player.

The 39-year-old was his squad's top scorer in the qualifiers with five goals.

Lastly, we have Ireland.

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

Troy Parrott netted the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a hat-trick – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to secure runner-up place in Group F in thrilling fashion.

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

Ireland are winless in their last 4 encounters with the Welsh, defeated in 3 of those, although 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.