🔗 Share this article Wales Ready to Face Anybody in World Cup Qualifying Fixture Wales have won eight of their previous sixteen matches under coach Craig Bellamy The team's attention are firmly on the upcoming World Cup playoff fixture as they await learning their semi-final and possible final rivals. After finished second in their qualification pool following a dominant 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – Wales will play the semifinal match on home soil. They will meet either Albania, Bosnia, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March. Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw thinks the Dragons will embrace a tie against whichever opponent after their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium. "I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mindset is 'give us whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw commented. "Many supporters were wondering recently, 'do we really want Republic of Ireland as it's that local feel?'. In my view a number of people were hesitant. But personally, that could be amazing. "So it's that type of situation, yes, we'll take Kosovo or Bosnia and the Albanians are not bad and Republic of Ireland, of course, they're a capable team so it will be difficult. "However you just feel that we're prepared for anyone right now and we're confident, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy." Potential Play-off Semifinal Rivals Reviewed The Welsh squad sit thirty-fourth in the FIFA standings, with Albania sixty-first, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia 75th and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth. The Albanian national team enjoyed a impressive qualification run, with their only defeats coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed full points without allowing a solitary goal. The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's recognizable names, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their scoring chart in the qualifiers with 3 goals. It is worth noting, Albania have never earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, though they participated at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, not managing to reach the knockout stages on both occasions. While Slovenia and Sweden endured difficult runs, with each failing to win a qualification match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team. The Swiss finished the six-match campaign three points clear of Kosovo, whose single loss was at the hands of the pool winners. Kosovo include former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time top scorer – in a squad targeting a first international competition appearance. They have not yet faced Wales. Bosnia were defeated just once in qualifying, and earned a point more than Wales managed in their eight games, but nonetheless ended two points adrift of their group winners Austria. They were 13 minutes away from securing a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians meant the pair tied in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the pool. The Welsh have failed to defeat the Bosnian side in 4 attempts but experienced a memorable loss against the Dragons as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after the defeat. As his nation's historic leading scorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's key player. The veteran was his squad's leading goalscorer in the qualifiers with five goals. Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland. Having secured just one point from their opening 3 qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the playoffs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary. Troy Parrott scored both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to take second spot in their group in dramatic fashion. Key player Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his side's revival while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting position his to keep. The Republic of Ireland are winless in their last 4 meetings with the Welsh, defeated in 3 of these, though James McClean broke the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.