🔗 Share this article Wales Prepared to Take on Whichever Opponent in World Cup Playoff Fixture The team has secured eight of their previous sixteen matches with coach Craig Bellamy The team's attention are firmly on the upcoming World Cup playoff draw as they await learning their semi-final and potential final challengers. Having finished second in their qualifying pool following a decisive 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – Wales will play the semi-final encounter on home soil. They will face either Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March. Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw thinks the Dragons will welcome a tie against any opponent following their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium. "I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mentality is 'give us whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw said. "Many supporters were asking recently, 'should we really want Republic of Ireland because of that derby feel?'. In my view a number of supporters didn't. But for me, that would be fantastic. "So it's one of those, yes, we'll take the Kosovans or the Bosnians and the Albanians are competitive and Republic of Ireland, of course, they're a capable team so it will be difficult. "But you just feel that we're prepared for anybody at the moment and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy." Possible Play-off Semi-final Rivals Reviewed The Welsh squad sit 34th in the world rankings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia 75th and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth. The Albanian national team enjoyed a impressive qualification campaign, with their sole defeats coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured full points without allowing a single goal. The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's recognizable names, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their goal tally in qualifying with 3 goals. Importantly, Albania have never qualified for a FIFA World Cup, although they participated at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, not managing to advance to the last 16 on both occasions. While Slovenia and Sweden endured difficult runs, with both not managing to win a qualification match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team. The Switzerland finished the six-game campaign three points ahead of Kosovo, whose one defeat came at the hands of the pool winners. The Kosovan squad feature ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time leading goalscorer – in a squad aiming for a first major tournament appearance. They have never faced the Welsh team. Bosnia-Herzegovina lost just once in the qualifiers, and earned a points additional than Wales achieved in their 8 games, but nonetheless finished two points adrift of their group winners Austria. They were a quarter of an hour away from clinching a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the pair tied in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group. The Welsh have failed to beat the Bosnian side in four attempts but experienced a unforgettable loss against Zmajevi as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after the defeat. Being his nation's historic leading scorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's standout player. The 39-year-old was his squad's top scorer in qualifying with 5 goals. Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland. Having taken just one point from their opening 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the playoffs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary. Troy Parrott netted the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to secure runner-up place in Group F in thrilling fashion. Talisman Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his side's resurgence while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting jersey his to keep. The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their past 4 meetings with the Welsh, losing three of these, although James McClean broke the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.