The Welsh team Set to Challenge Whichever Opponent in FIFA World Cup Qualifying Fixture

The team's sights are squarely on Thursday's World Cup play-off draw as they await discovering their semifinal and possible final rivals.

Having finished as runners-up in their qualification group thanks to a commanding 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – Wales will host the semi-final match on home soil.

They will play against either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo or Republic of Ireland in that match on 26 March.

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Dragons will relish a tie against any team after their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

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

"Many fans were saying recently, 'do we actually want Ireland because of that local feel?'. I think a number of supporters didn't. But personally, that would be incredible.

"It's one of those, yes, we're ready for Kosovo or the Bosnians and the Albanians are not bad and Ireland, of course, they're a capable team so they'll be difficult.

"But you just feel that we're prepared for anyone right now and it doesn't matter, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Possible Play-off Semifinal Rivals Evaluated

Wales sit thirty-fourth in the FIFA rankings, with Albania sixty-first, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a strong qualification campaign, with their only defeats suffered at the hands of their group 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 recognizable names, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their goal chart in the qualifiers with three goals.

Notably, the Albanians have not yet earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, though they participated at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, failing to advance to the knockout stages on each times.

While Slovenia and Sweden endured difficult runs, with both failing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland finished the six-match qualifiers three points ahead of the Kosovans, whose one loss came at the hands of the group winners.

Kosovo include former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time leading goalscorer – in a squad targeting a first international competition appearance.

They have never played the Welsh team.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated only one time in qualifying, and earned a point additional than the Welsh managed in their eight games, but nonetheless finished 2 points adrift of their group winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from securing a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the pair drew in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.

Wales have not managed to defeat the Bosnians in four attempts but experienced a unforgettable defeat against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite losing.

As his nation's all-time top goalscorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's key player.

The veteran was his team's top scorer in qualifying with 5 goals.

And finally, we have Ireland.

After secured just one point from their first three matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the play-offs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored the two goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to secure second spot in their group in dramatic fashion.

Key player Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his side's resurgence while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one jersey his to keep.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their last four encounters with Wales, losing 3 of those, though James McClean shattered 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.