WALES’ focus lies on today’s World Cup play-off draw as they wait to discover their semi-final and potential final opponents.
Having finished second in their qualifying group courtesy of an emphatic 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – Craig Bellamy’s side will play the last-four encounter on home soil.
They will face either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo or Republic of Ireland in that fixture on March 26.
Former Wales striker, Rob Earnshaw, believes the Dragons will relish a tie against any opponent on the back of their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.
“I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mentality is ‘give us whoever, it doesn’t matter’,” Earnshaw told BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast.
“A lot of people were saying last night, ‘do we really want Republic of Ireland as it’s that derby feel?’. I think a lot of people didn’t. But for me, that would be incredible.
“So it’s one of those, yes, we’ll take Kosovo or Bosnia and Albania are not bad and the Republic of Ireland, of course, they’re a very good team so they’ll be difficult.
“But you just feel that we’ll take anybody right now and it doesn’t matter, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy.”
Potential play-off semi-final opponents assessed
Wales sit 32nd in the Fifa world rankings, with Republic of Ireland 59th, Albania 63rd, Bosnia-Herzegovina 71st and Kosovo 80th.
Albania enjoyed a strong qualifying campaign, with their only defeat coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed maximum points without conceding a single goal.
Burnley’s Armando Broja and Lazio’s Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks’ more notable names, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their scoring chart in qualifying with three goals.
It is worth noting that Albania have never qualified for a World Cup, although they featured at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, failing to reach the knockout stages on both occasions.
As Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid campaigns, with both failing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.
The Swiss ended the six-game campaign three points clear of Kosovo, whose one defeat came at the hands of the group winners.
Kosovo include former Manchester City goalkeeper, Arijanet Muric and Mallorca’s Vedat Muriqi – his nation’s all-time top scorer – in a squad targeting a first major tournament appearance.
They have never faced Wales.(BBC Sport)