The Welsh team Set to Face Whichever Opponent in FIFA World Cup Play-off Fixture

Wales football team celebration

The team has won 8 of their recent sixteen matches with coach Craig Bellamy

The team's focus are squarely on Thursday's World Cup playoff fixture as they await learning their semifinal and potential final rivals.

Having ended second in their qualification pool following a dominant 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – the side will host the semi-final match on home soil.

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

Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw thinks the Dragons will relish a match against any team following their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his approach is 'give us whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw stated.

"A lot of people were asking recently, 'do we really want Republic of Ireland because of that derby atmosphere?'. I think many supporters didn't. But personally, that would be fantastic.

"So it's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take Kosovo or Bosnia and Albania are decent and Ireland, of course, they're a strong team so they'll be challenging.

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

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Wales sit 34th in the FIFA standings, with Albania sixty-first, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and Kosovo 84th.

Albania enjoyed a solid qualifying run, with their sole losses coming at the hands of their group winners England, who claimed maximum points without allowing a single goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's more notable players, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their scoring tally in qualifying with 3 goals.

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

As Slovenia and Sweden had poor campaigns, with each failing to win a qualifying match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland finished the six-game qualifiers three points clear of the Kosovans, whose single defeat came at the hands of the group winners.

The Kosovan squad include former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic leading goalscorer – in a team targeting a maiden international competition appearance.

They have not yet played Wales.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated only one time in qualifying, and claimed a points more than the Welsh achieved in their eight games, but still finished 2 points adrift of Group H winners Austria.

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

The Welsh have not managed to beat the Bosnians in 4 attempts but experienced a memorable loss against Zmajevi as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

As his nation's historic top goalscorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's key player.

The veteran was his team's top scorer in qualifying with five goals.

And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.

Having secured only a single point from their opening 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the play-offs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to take runner-up spot in their group in thrilling style.

Key player Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his team's resurgence while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one position his own.

Ireland are winless in their last 4 encounters with Wales, defeated in 3 of these, although James McClean shattered the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.

Julie Stephens
Julie Stephens

Elara Vance is a novelist and writing coach with a passion for storytelling and helping aspiring authors find their unique voice.