The Welsh team Set to Face Whichever Opponent in World Cup Playoff Fixture

Wales football team celebration

Wales have secured 8 of their recent 16 matches under manager Craig Bellamy

The team's attention are squarely on the upcoming World Cup playoff draw as they await discovering their semifinal and possible final challengers.

Having ended as runners-up in their qualifying group thanks to a commanding 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – Wales will host the semifinal match on their own turf.

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

Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw believes the Welsh squad will relish a match against any opponent after their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his approach is 'bring on whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw stated.

"Many supporters were asking 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 would be amazing.

"So it's one of those, indeed, we'll take the Kosovans or the Bosnians and the Albanians are competitive and Ireland, naturally, they are a strong team so they'll be tough.

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

Possible Playoff Semi-final Rivals Assessed

Wales sit 34th in the FIFA rankings, with Albania sixty-first, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia seventy-fifth and Kosovo eighty-fourth.

Albania had a strong qualifying campaign, with their only defeats suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed maximum points without conceding a single goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's prominent names, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their goal chart in the qualifiers with three goals.

It is worth noting, the Albanians have not yet earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, although they featured at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, not managing to reach the knockout stages on each times.

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

The Swiss finished the six-match campaign 3 points clear of the Kosovans, whose one loss was at the hands of the pool winners.

Kosovo feature ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time leading goalscorer – in a squad targeting a first major tournament appearance.

They have not yet faced Wales.

Bosnia-Herzegovina lost just once in qualifying, and earned a point more than Wales achieved in their eight games, but still finished 2 points behind of their group winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from clinching a place at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the teams drew in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.

Wales have not managed to defeat the Bosnians in 4 matches but experienced a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

Being his nation's historic top goalscorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's key player.

The veteran was his squad's leading goalscorer in qualifying with 5 goals.

And finally, we have Ireland.

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

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

Key player Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his team's resurgence while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting position his to keep.

The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their past four meetings with Wales, losing three of these, though James McClean shattered the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.

Deborah Owens
Deborah Owens

Elara is a passionate game developer and writer, sharing her expertise on innovative gaming experiences and industry trends.