Craig Bellamy's squad Set to Face Whichever Opponent in FIFA World Cup Qualifying Draw
Wales have secured eight of their last sixteen matches with manager Craig Bellamy
The team's sights are firmly on the upcoming World Cup play-off fixture as they await discovering their semi-final and possible final challengers.
After finished as runners-up in their qualification pool thanks to a commanding 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – the side will play the semi-final encounter on home soil.
They will meet either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that match on 26 March.
Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Dragons will relish a match against any team after their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his approach is 'bring on anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw stated.
"A lot of people were wondering recently, 'do we actually want Ireland as it's that local feel?'. In my view a number of people were hesitant. But for me, that would be incredible.
"It's that type of situation, yes, we're ready for the Kosovans or Bosnia and the Albanians are decent and Republic of Ireland, of course, they're a capable team so it will be challenging.
"But the sense is that we'll take anyone right now and we're confident, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy."
Possible Playoff Semi-final Opponents Assessed
Wales sit thirty-fourth in the FIFA standings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and the Kosovan side 84th.
The Albanian national team had a solid qualifying campaign, with their only losses suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed full points without allowing a solitary goal.
Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's prominent names, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their goal tally in the qualifiers with three goals.
Notably, the Albanians have never qualified for a World Cup, although they participated at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, failing to advance to the knockout stages on each occasions.
As Slovenia and Sweden had difficult runs, with both not managing to win a qualification match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.
The Swiss ended the six-match campaign three points clear of the Kosovans, whose single defeat came at the hands of the pool winners.
Kosovo feature former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic leading goalscorer – in a team targeting a first major tournament appearance.
They have not yet faced Wales.
Bosnia lost just once in the qualifiers, and earned a points additional than Wales 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 securing a place at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the pair drew in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.
The Welsh have failed to beat the Bosnians in 4 matches but experienced a unforgettable loss against the Dragons as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.
As his country's historic top goalscorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's standout player.
The 39-year-old was his team's top scorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.
Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.
After secured just one point from their first three matches, Heimir HallgrÃmsson's side stormed into the play-offs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott netted the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to take runner-up spot in their group in dramatic style.
Talisman Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his team's resurgence while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting jersey his to keep.
Ireland are winless in their past 4 encounters with Wales, losing three of those, though James McClean broke the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.