Craig Bellamy's squad Ready to Take on Anyone in FIFA World Cup Playoff Fixture
Wales have won 8 of their last sixteen matches with manager Craig Bellamy
The team's focus are squarely on the upcoming World Cup playoff draw as they await discovering their semifinal and possible final challengers.
After finished second in their qualification pool following a dominant 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – the side will host the semi-final match on their own turf.
They will face either the Albanian side, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that match on 26 March.
Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw believes the Dragons will welcome a tie against whichever team after their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his approach is 'give us anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw said.
"Many people were saying recently, 'do we actually want Republic of Ireland because of that derby feel?'. I think a number of supporters were hesitant. But for me, that could be incredible.
"So it's that type of situation, indeed, we're ready for Kosovo or the Bosnians and Albania are not bad and Ireland, of course, they're a strong team so they'll be tough.
"But the sense is that we'll take anyone right now and we're confident, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."
Potential Play-off Semifinal Opponents Reviewed
Wales sit 34th in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and Kosovo eighty-fourth.
The Albanian national team enjoyed a strong qualifying campaign, with their sole losses coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed full points without allowing a single goal.
The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's recognizable names, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their goal tally in the qualifiers with 3 goals.
It is worth noting, Albania have not yet qualified for a World Cup, although they featured at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, not managing to advance to the last 16 on both times.
As Slovenia and Sweden had poor campaigns, with both not managing to win a qualification match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.
The Switzerland ended the six-match qualifiers three points ahead of the Kosovans, whose single defeat came at the hands of the pool winners.
Kosovo feature ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic top scorer – in a squad aiming for a maiden international competition appearance.
They have never faced Wales.
Bosnia-Herzegovina lost only one time in the qualifiers, and earned a point additional than Wales managed in their eight games, but still finished 2 points adrift of Group H winners Austria.
They were 13 minutes away from clinching a place at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians ensured the pair drew in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the pool.
Wales have not managed to beat the Bosnians in four matches but experienced a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.
As his country's historic top goalscorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's key player.
The 39-year-old was his team's top scorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.
And finally, we have Ireland.
Having taken just one point from their first 3 qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the play-offs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott scored the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to secure runner-up spot in Group F in dramatic fashion.
Key player Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his team's resurgence while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one position his to keep.
Ireland are winless in their last four meetings with the Welsh, losing three of those, although James McClean broke the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.