The Welsh team Set to Challenge Anybody in World Cup Playoff Draw

Wales' focus are squarely on Thursday's World Cup play-off draw as they prepare for discovering their semi-final and potential final opponents.

Having ended second in their qualification group thanks to a decisive 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – the side will host the semifinal match on home soil.

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

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw believes the Welsh squad will relish a match against any team after their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mentality is 'bring on anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw commented.

"A lot of fans were wondering last night, 'do we really want Republic of Ireland because of that local atmosphere?'. I think a number of people didn't. But personally, that could be incredible.

"It's that type of situation, indeed, we're ready for the Kosovans or the Bosnians and the Albanians are decent and Ireland, naturally, they are a strong team so they'll be tough.

"However you just feel that we'll take anyone at the moment and we're confident, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Possible Play-off Semifinal Opponents Evaluated

The Welsh squad are placed 34th in the world rankings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and Kosovo 84th.

Albania enjoyed a impressive qualifying run, with their sole defeats suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured full points without allowing a solitary goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's recognizable players, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their scoring chart in qualifying with three goals.

Importantly, the Albanians have not yet earned a spot for a World Cup, though they featured at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, failing to advance to the last 16 on each times.

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

The Switzerland ended the six-game campaign three points clear of Kosovo, whose one loss was at the hands of the pool winners.

Kosovo feature ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time top scorer – in a squad targeting a maiden major tournament appearance.

They have not yet played Wales.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated just once in qualifying, and claimed a points more than the Welsh achieved in their 8 games, but nonetheless ended two points adrift of Group H winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from clinching a place 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 topped the group.

Wales have not managed to beat the Bosnians in 4 attempts but experienced a memorable defeat against Zmajevi as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite losing.

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

The veteran was his squad's top scorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.

Lastly, we have Ireland.

Having taken just one point from their first 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the play-offs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored the two 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 secure runner-up spot in their group in dramatic style.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his team's revival while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one position his to keep.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their last 4 meetings with the Welsh, defeated in 3 of those, although James McClean broke the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.