🔗 Share this article The Welsh team Prepared to Challenge Anyone in World Cup Play-off Draw The team has secured eight of their previous sixteen matches under manager Craig Bellamy The team's sights are squarely on the upcoming World Cup play-off fixture as they await learning their semifinal and potential final rivals. Having ended as runners-up in their qualifying pool following a decisive 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – the side will host the semi-final encounter on their own turf. They will face either Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo or Ireland in that match on 26 March. Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw believes the Dragons will relish a tie against any opponent following their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium. "I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his approach is 'give us whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw stated. "Many supporters were wondering recently, 'do we actually want Ireland as it's that derby feel?'. I think a number of supporters were hesitant. But personally, that would be amazing. "So it's that type of situation, yes, we'll take the Kosovans or Bosnia and the Albanians are decent and Ireland, of course, they are a capable team so they'll be tough. "However you just feel that we'll take anyone right now and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy." Potential Playoff Semi-final Rivals Assessed Wales are placed 34th in the world standings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and Kosovo eighty-fourth. The Albanian national team had a solid qualifying campaign, with their sole losses suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed maximum points without conceding a single goal. Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's recognizable names, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their goal tally in the qualifiers with 3 goals. Notably, the Albanians have not yet qualified for a FIFA World Cup, though they featured at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, failing to advance to the last 16 on both occasions. As Slovenia and Sweden had torrid runs, with both failing to win a qualification match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team. The Swiss finished the six-match qualifiers 3 points clear of Kosovo, whose one loss came at the hands of the pool winners. Kosovo feature ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time leading goalscorer – in a team targeting a maiden major tournament appearance. They have not yet faced Wales. Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated just once in qualifying, and claimed a points additional than the Welsh achieved in their 8 games, but still finished two points adrift of Group H winners Austria. They were a quarter of an hour away from clinching a place at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians ensured the pair tied in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool. Wales have not managed to beat the Bosnian side in 4 matches but experienced a unforgettable loss against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after the defeat. Being his country's historic leading scorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's key player. The veteran was his squad's top scorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals. And finally, we have Ireland. Having secured just one point from their first three qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the play-offs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary. Troy Parrott scored both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to secure runner-up place in Group F in thrilling style. Key player Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his team's resurgence while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting jersey his own. The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their last 4 meetings with Wales, losing three of these, although James McClean broke the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.