Craig Bellamy's squad Ready to Face Anyone in World Cup Qualifying Draw

The team's focus are squarely on the upcoming World Cup play-off fixture as they await learning their semifinal and potential final challengers.

After ended as runners-up in their qualifying pool following a dominant 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – the side will host the semifinal encounter on their own turf.

They will meet either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Kosovan team or Republic of Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.

Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw believes the Dragons will welcome a tie against any team following their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mentality is 'bring on whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw stated.

"Many supporters were asking recently, 'should we really want Republic of Ireland as it's that local feel?'. In my view many people were hesitant. But personally, that could be fantastic.

"So it's one of those, indeed, we'll take the Kosovans or the Bosnians and Albania are not bad and Ireland, naturally, they are a capable team so they'll be tough.

"But the sense is that we'll take anyone right now and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Potential Playoff Semifinal Rivals Evaluated

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

Albania enjoyed a impressive qualification run, with their only defeats coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured maximum points without allowing a solitary goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's prominent names, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their goal chart in qualifying with 3 goals.

It is worth noting, Albania have never earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, though they participated at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, failing to reach the knockout stages on each occasions.

While Slovenia and Sweden had poor campaigns, with both failing to win a qualification match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland finished the six-match campaign three points ahead of Kosovo, whose single defeat 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 all-time leading goalscorer – in a team targeting a maiden international competition appearance.

They have never faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia were defeated just once in qualifying, and claimed a point more than the Welsh managed in their eight games, but nonetheless finished 2 points behind of Group H 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 drew in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.

Wales have not managed to beat the Bosnians in four matches but experienced a unforgettable defeat against Zmajevi as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

As his nation's all-time top goalscorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player.

The veteran was his squad's top scorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.

Lastly, we have Ireland.

Having 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 the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to secure runner-up spot in their group in thrilling style.

Key player Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his side's revival while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one position his own.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their last four meetings with Wales, losing three of those, although James McClean shattered the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.