Craig Bellamy's squad Set to Take on Anyone in World Cup Qualifying Fixture

Wales' sights are squarely on the upcoming World Cup playoff fixture as they await learning their semi-final and potential final rivals.

After ended second in their qualifying group following a commanding 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – the side will host the semifinal match on their own turf.

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

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw believes the Welsh squad will embrace a match against whichever team after their most recent result 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.

"Many supporters were wondering last night, 'should we really want Ireland because of that derby atmosphere?'. In my view many supporters didn't. But personally, that would be incredible.

"So it's one of those, indeed, we'll take Kosovo or Bosnia and the Albanians are not bad and Republic of Ireland, of course, they're a very good team so it will be challenging.

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

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Wales sit thirty-fourth in the world standings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia 75th and the Kosovan side 84th.

The Albanian national team had a strong qualifying run, with their only defeats coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured maximum points without allowing a solitary goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's recognizable players, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their scoring tally in qualifying with three goals.

Notably, Albania have not yet qualified for a World Cup, although they participated at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, failing to reach the last 16 on each occasions.

As Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid runs, with each failing to win a qualification match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland finished the six-match qualifiers 3 points ahead of the Kosovans, whose single loss came at the hands of the pool winners.

Kosovo feature ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic leading goalscorer – in a squad aiming for a first international competition appearance.

They have never played the Welsh team.

Bosnia were defeated only one time in the qualifiers, and earned a point more than Wales achieved in their 8 games, but still ended two points behind 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 teams tied in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.

The Welsh have failed to defeat the Bosnian side in four attempts but did have a memorable defeat against Zmajevi as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after losing.

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

The 39-year-old was his squad's top scorer in qualifying with 5 goals.

And finally, we have Ireland.

After secured only a single point from their opening 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 scoring a triple – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to take runner-up place in Group F in dramatic style.

Talisman Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his team's resurgence while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting jersey his own.

Ireland are without a win in their past 4 encounters with Wales, losing 3 of these, though James McClean broke the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.