Craig Bellamy's squad Ready to Challenge Whichever Opponent in FIFA World Cup Qualifying Draw
The team has won eight of their last sixteen matches under coach Craig Bellamy
Wales' focus are firmly on the upcoming World Cup playoff draw as they prepare for discovering their semi-final and possible final opponents.
Having finished as runners-up in their qualification group thanks to a dominant 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – the side will play the semi-final encounter on home soil.
They will meet either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Kosovan team or Republic of Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.
Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Dragons will relish a tie against any opponent after their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mindset is 'bring on anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw stated.
"A lot of supporters were saying recently, 'do we really want Ireland as it's that derby atmosphere?'. I think a number of people didn't. But personally, that could be fantastic.
"It's that type of situation, yes, we're ready for the Kosovans or the Bosnians and the Albanians are decent and Ireland, of course, they're a capable team so it will be challenging.
"However the sense is that we'll take anyone right now and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy."
Potential Play-off Semi-final Opponents Assessed
The Welsh squad sit 34th in the world standings, with Albania 61st, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and Kosovo eighty-fourth.
The Albanian national team enjoyed a strong qualifying campaign, with their sole defeats suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who claimed maximum points without conceding a single goal.
Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's prominent players, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their scoring tally in qualifying with 3 goals.
Importantly, Albania have never qualified for a FIFA World Cup, although they participated at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, not managing to advance to the knockout stages on each occasions.
While Slovenia and Sweden had poor runs, with both failing to win a qualification match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.
The Switzerland ended the six-match campaign 3 points clear of the Kosovans, whose single defeat came at the hands of the group winners.
The Kosovan squad include former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic leading goalscorer – in a squad targeting a maiden international competition appearance.
They have not yet played the Welsh team.
Bosnia were defeated only one time in qualifying, and earned a points additional than the Welsh managed in their eight games, but still finished two points behind of their group winners Austria.
They were a quarter of an hour away from clinching a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the teams drew in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.
The Welsh have failed to beat the Bosnians in 4 attempts but experienced a unforgettable defeat against the Dragons as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.
Being his nation's all-time top goalscorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's star player.
The 39-year-old was his team's top scorer in qualifying with five goals.
And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.
After taken only a single 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 netted both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to take runner-up place in Group F in dramatic fashion.
Talisman Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his side's resurgence while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one jersey his own.
The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their last four encounters with Wales, losing 3 of those, although James McClean broke the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.