Craig Bellamy's squad Prepared to Take on Anybody in World Cup Qualifying Fixture
Wales have secured 8 of their recent sixteen matches under coach Craig Bellamy
The team's focus are squarely on Thursday's World Cup play-off draw as they prepare for discovering their semifinal and potential final opponents.
After finished second in their qualification group thanks to a commanding 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – the side will host the semi-final encounter on home soil.
They will play against either Albania, Bosnia, the Kosovan team or Republic of Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.
Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw thinks the Welsh squad will welcome a match against whichever opponent following their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his approach is 'bring on anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw commented.
"A lot of people were saying recently, 'should we actually want Ireland because of that local feel?'. In my view a number of people didn't. But for me, that would be incredible.
"It's that type of situation, yes, we're ready for the Kosovans or Bosnia and Albania are decent and Republic of Ireland, of course, they're a very good team so they'll be challenging.
"But the sense is that we'll take anybody right now and we're confident, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."
Possible Play-off Semifinal Opponents Reviewed
Wales are placed thirty-fourth in the world standings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and Kosovo eighty-fourth.
Albania had a strong qualifying run, with their sole losses coming at the hands of their group winners England, who claimed full points without conceding a single goal.
The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's recognizable players, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their goal chart in the qualifiers with three goals.
Notably, Albania have not yet qualified for a FIFA World Cup, though they featured at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, failing to reach the knockout stages on both occasions.
As Slovenia and Sweden had torrid campaigns, with each not managing to win a qualifying match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.
The Swiss ended the six-game campaign three points clear of Kosovo, whose single defeat was at the hands of the pool winners.
Kosovo include ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic leading goalscorer – in a squad targeting a first international competition appearance.
They have not yet played Wales.
Bosnia-Herzegovina lost just once in qualifying, and claimed a points additional than Wales managed in their eight games, but nonetheless ended two points behind of their group winners Austria.
They were 13 minutes away from clinching a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the pair drew in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.
Wales have not managed to defeat the Bosnian side in 4 matches but experienced a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after losing.
Being his country's historic top goalscorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player.
The veteran was his squad's leading goalscorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.
And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.
Having secured just one point from their first three matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the play-offs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott scored the two goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a hat-trick – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to secure second spot in their group in dramatic style.
Talisman Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his team's resurgence while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting position his own.
The Republic of Ireland are without a win 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 crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.