Craig Bellamy's squad Prepared to Take on Whichever Opponent in World Cup Play-off Fixture
Wales have won 8 of their recent 16 matches with manager Craig Bellamy
Wales' focus are squarely on Thursday's World Cup playoff draw as they await learning their semi-final and potential final challengers.
After ended second in their qualifying pool following a decisive 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – the side will host the semi-final encounter on their own turf.
They will meet either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.
Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will welcome a match against whichever team after their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.
"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his approach is 'bring on whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw stated.
"A lot of fans were saying recently, 'should we really want Republic of Ireland as it's that local feel?'. I think a number of people didn't. But personally, that could be incredible.
"It's one of those, indeed, we're ready for the Kosovans or Bosnia and the Albanians are decent and Ireland, of course, they are a capable team so they'll be difficult.
"But you just feel that we're prepared for anyone at the moment and we're confident, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy."
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The Welsh squad are placed 34th in the world rankings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia 75th and the Kosovan side 84th.
Albania enjoyed a impressive qualifying run, with their only defeats coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed full points without allowing a solitary goal.
Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's prominent names, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their scoring tally in the qualifiers with three goals.
Importantly, the Albanians have not yet qualified for a FIFA World Cup, though they participated at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, not managing to reach the last 16 on each times.
As Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid campaigns, with both failing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.
The Switzerland ended the six-game qualifiers 3 points clear of the Kosovans, whose single defeat came at the hands of the pool winners.
The Kosovan squad feature ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic top scorer – in a squad targeting a first major tournament appearance.
They have not yet played Wales.
Bosnia-Herzegovina lost only one time in the qualifiers, and earned a point more than Wales achieved in their 8 games, but nonetheless ended 2 points behind of Group H 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 ensured the pair drew in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.
Wales have not managed to defeat the Bosnians in 4 matches but experienced a memorable loss against the Dragons as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.
As his country's all-time leading scorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's standout player.
The 39-year-old was his squad's leading goalscorer in the qualifiers with five goals.
Lastly, we have Ireland.
Having secured just one point from their first 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the playoffs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.
Troy Parrott netted the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to take second spot in their group in thrilling style.
Key player Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his team's revival while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting jersey his own.
Ireland are without a win in their last four encounters with Wales, losing 3 of those, although James McClean shattered the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.