Craig Bellamy's squad Ready to Challenge Anybody in FIFA World Cup Playoff Draw
Wales have won 8 of their previous sixteen matches under coach Craig Bellamy
The team's attention are squarely on Thursday's World Cup playoff fixture as they prepare for learning their semi-final and possible final challengers.
Having ended as runners-up in their qualification group thanks to a commanding 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – the side will play the semi-final encounter on their own turf.
They will play against either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo or Republic of Ireland in that match on 26 March.
Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw feels the Dragons will embrace a match against whichever team after their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mentality is 'bring on anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw commented.
"A lot of fans were wondering last night, 'should we actually want Republic of Ireland as it's that derby feel?'. I think a number of people didn't. But personally, that could be incredible.
"It's that type of situation, yes, we'll take Kosovo or the Bosnians and Albania are decent and Ireland, of course, they're a capable team so it will be challenging.
"But you just feel that we'll take anybody at the moment and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy."
Potential Playoff Semi-final Opponents Assessed
Wales are placed thirty-fourth in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side 84th.
Albania had a impressive qualification campaign, with their sole losses suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured maximum points without conceding a solitary goal.
Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's recognizable names, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their scoring chart in the qualifiers with three goals.
Notably, the Albanians have never earned a spot for a World Cup, though they participated at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, failing to reach the last 16 on each times.
While Slovenia and Sweden endured difficult campaigns, with both not managing to win a qualification match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.
The Switzerland finished the six-match qualifiers three points ahead of the Kosovans, whose one loss was at the hands of the group winners.
The Kosovan squad include former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic top scorer – in a team targeting a maiden major tournament appearance.
They have not yet faced Wales.
Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated only one time in qualifying, and earned a points additional than Wales managed in their 8 games, but still finished 2 points behind of their group winners Austria.
They were 13 minutes away from clinching a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians meant the teams drew in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.
Wales have failed to beat the Bosnian side in 4 attempts but did have a unforgettable loss against Zmajevi as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite losing.
Being his nation's historic leading scorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's standout player.
The 39-year-old was his team's leading goalscorer in qualifying with 5 goals.
Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.
After secured only a single point from their first 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the playoffs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott netted the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to take second spot in their group in dramatic style.
Key player Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his side's resurgence while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting position his to keep.
Ireland are without a win in their past four encounters with Wales, defeated in 3 of these, though James McClean broke the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.