🔗 Share this article Craig Bellamy's squad Ready to Take on Anybody in World Cup Playoff Draw The team has secured eight of their recent 16 matches under coach Craig Bellamy The team's attention are squarely on the upcoming World Cup playoff fixture as they prepare for learning their semi-final and possible final opponents. Having finished as runners-up in their qualification group thanks to a decisive 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – the side will play the semi-final encounter on their own turf. They will face either the Albanian side, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo or Ireland in that match on 26 March. Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw believes the Welsh squad will welcome a tie against whichever opponent following their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium. "I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his approach is 'bring on whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw stated. "A lot of supporters were wondering recently, 'should we really want Republic of Ireland as it's that derby feel?'. In my view a number of people didn't. But personally, that would be fantastic. "It's that type of situation, yes, we'll take the Kosovans or the Bosnians and the Albanians are decent and Ireland, naturally, they are a strong team so they'll be challenging. "But the sense is that we'll take anyone at the moment and it doesn't matter, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy." Possible Playoff Semi-final Rivals Reviewed Wales sit 34th in the FIFA standings, with Albania 61st, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and Kosovo eighty-fourth. The Albanian national team had a solid qualification run, with their only defeats suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who secured maximum points without allowing a solitary goal. Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio'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 topped their scoring chart in qualifying with 3 goals. It is worth noting, the Albanians have never earned a spot for a World Cup, although they participated at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, failing to reach the last 16 on both occasions. While Slovenia and Sweden had poor campaigns, with both not managing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team. The Switzerland ended the six-game qualifiers 3 points clear of the Kosovans, whose single defeat was at the hands of the group winners. Kosovo include former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time leading goalscorer – in a team aiming for a maiden international competition appearance. They have never faced Wales. Bosnia-Herzegovina lost only one time in qualifying, and claimed a point additional than the Welsh achieved in their 8 games, but nonetheless finished 2 points adrift of their group winners Austria. They were a quarter of an hour away from clinching a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians ensured the pair drew in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group. Wales have failed to beat the Bosnians in four matches but experienced a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after the defeat. Being his nation's historic top goalscorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's star player. The 39-year-old was his team's leading goalscorer in the qualifiers with five goals. And finally, we have Ireland. After secured just one point from their first 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the play-offs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary. Troy Parrott scored both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to take runner-up place in Group F in thrilling style. Key player Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his side's revival while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one position his to keep. Ireland are without a win in their past four encounters with Wales, defeated in three of these, though James McClean broke the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.