The Welsh team Ready to Face Anyone in FIFA World Cup Play-off Fixture

Wales' sights are squarely on the upcoming World Cup play-off fixture as they prepare for discovering their semi-final and possible final challengers.

Having ended second in their qualification group following a dominant 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – Wales will play the semifinal encounter on home soil.

They will face either the Albanian side, Bosnia, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.

Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will relish a match against any team after their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mentality is 'give us whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw commented.

"A lot of people were saying last night, 'should we actually want Republic of Ireland as it's that local feel?'. In my view a number of supporters were hesitant. But for me, that could be fantastic.

"So it's that type of situation, yes, we're ready for Kosovo or the Bosnians and the Albanians are not bad and Republic of Ireland, of course, they're a strong team so it will be challenging.

"But the sense is that we're prepared for anyone right now and we're confident, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

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Wales sit 34th in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and Kosovo 84th.

Albania had a impressive qualifying campaign, with their only losses suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who secured maximum points without allowing a single goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's recognizable players, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their goal chart in qualifying with 3 goals.

Importantly, the Albanians have never earned a spot for a World Cup, although they featured at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, not managing to reach the knockout stages on both occasions.

As Slovenia and Sweden endured difficult campaigns, with both failing to win a qualification match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland ended the six-match qualifiers 3 points clear of Kosovo, whose one loss came at the hands of the group winners.

The Kosovan squad feature ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic top scorer – in a squad targeting a first international competition appearance.

They have not yet faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia lost only one time in qualifying, and earned a points more than the Welsh managed in their 8 games, but nonetheless ended two points behind of their group winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from securing a place at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians meant the pair tied in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.

Wales have not managed to defeat the Bosnian side in 4 attempts but did have a memorable defeat against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite losing.

Being his country's historic leading scorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's standout player.

The 39-year-old was his squad's top scorer in qualifying with five goals.

And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.

After secured only a single point from their opening 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the play-offs 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 arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to secure runner-up spot in Group F in dramatic style.

Key player Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his side's revival while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting jersey his own.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their past four meetings with the Welsh, defeated in 3 of these, though James McClean broke the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.