Craig Bellamy's squad Ready to Face Anybody in FIFA World Cup Play-off Fixture
Wales have won eight of their recent 16 matches under manager Craig Bellamy
The team's focus are squarely on the upcoming World Cup play-off draw as they prepare for discovering their semifinal and possible final challengers.
Having ended as runners-up in their qualification group following a commanding 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – Wales will host the semi-final encounter on home soil.
They will play against either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.
Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will embrace a match against whichever opponent following their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his approach is 'give us whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw stated.
"Many people were saying last night, 'should we really want Ireland as it's that derby atmosphere?'. I think many supporters were hesitant. But for me, that would be incredible.
"It's one of those, indeed, we're ready for the Kosovans or the Bosnians and the Albanians are competitive and Republic of Ireland, of course, they are a strong team so they'll be tough.
"But you just feel that we're prepared for anyone right now and it doesn't matter, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."
Potential Playoff Semifinal Opponents Reviewed
The Welsh squad are placed 34th in the FIFA rankings, with Albania sixty-first, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia 75th and the Kosovan side 84th.
Albania enjoyed a strong qualification run, with their sole losses coming at the hands of their group winners England, who claimed full points without conceding a solitary goal.
The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's prominent names, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their scoring tally in the qualifiers with three goals.
It is worth noting, the Albanians have never earned a spot for a World Cup, although they featured at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, failing to advance to the last 16 on each occasions.
As Slovenia and Sweden had poor runs, with both failing to win a qualification match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.
The Swiss finished the six-match qualifiers three points clear of the Kosovans, whose single loss was at the hands of the group winners.
The Kosovan squad feature ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic top scorer – in a squad targeting a first major tournament appearance.
They have never played Wales.
Bosnia lost just once in the qualifiers, and claimed a points more than Wales achieved in their eight games, but nonetheless finished two points adrift of their group winners Austria.
They were 13 minutes away from securing a place at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the teams drew in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the pool.
The Welsh have failed to defeat the Bosnians in 4 attempts but experienced a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite losing.
As his country's historic top goalscorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's star player.
The veteran was his team's top scorer in qualifying with 5 goals.
And finally, we have Ireland.
Having secured only a single point from their opening three matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the play-offs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott scored the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to secure runner-up place in Group F in dramatic style.
Key player Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his team's revival while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one jersey his to keep.
The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their last four meetings with Wales, defeated in three of these, though James McClean shattered the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.