🔗 Share this article The Welsh team Set to Challenge Anyone in World Cup Qualifying Fixture Wales have secured eight of their last 16 matches with manager Craig Bellamy Wales' focus are squarely on the upcoming World Cup playoff draw as they prepare for learning their semifinal and potential final opponents. After finished second in their qualification pool following a commanding 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – the side will host the semifinal encounter on home soil. They will face either Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo or Republic of Ireland in that match on 26 March. Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw thinks the Welsh squad will embrace a match against any team following their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium. "I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mentality is 'give us whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw said. "A lot of supporters were saying recently, 'do we actually want Ireland because of that derby feel?'. I think a number of people were hesitant. But personally, that would be incredible. "It's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take Kosovo or Bosnia and the Albanians are decent and Republic of Ireland, of course, they are a strong team so they'll be challenging. "But the sense is that we're prepared for anyone right now and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy." Possible Play-off Semifinal Opponents Assessed The Welsh squad sit 34th in the world standings, with the Albanian team 61st, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and Kosovo 84th. The Albanian national team had a solid qualifying campaign, with their only losses coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed maximum points without conceding a solitary goal. Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's more notable names, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their scoring chart in qualifying with three goals. Importantly, the Albanians have never earned a spot for a World Cup, although they participated at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, failing to advance to the last 16 on both times. As Slovenia and Sweden had poor runs, with each not managing to win a qualifying match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo. The Switzerland finished the six-game campaign three points clear of the Kosovans, whose single defeat came at the hands of the pool winners. The Kosovan squad include former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic top scorer – in a squad aiming for a maiden international competition appearance. They have never played the Welsh team. Bosnia were defeated just once in the qualifiers, and earned a points additional than the Welsh managed in their 8 games, but nonetheless finished 2 points adrift of Group H winners Austria. They were 13 minutes away from securing a place at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians ensured the pair tied in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool. Wales have not managed to defeat the Bosnian side in 4 matches but experienced a memorable defeat against Zmajevi as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after the defeat. Being his country's historic leading scorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player. The 39-year-old was his team's leading goalscorer in qualifying with five goals. And finally, we have Ireland. After taken just one point from their opening 3 qualifiers, 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 the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to secure runner-up spot in their group in thrilling fashion. Talisman Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his team's revival while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one jersey his to keep. The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their past 4 encounters with Wales, defeated in three of these, although James McClean broke 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.