🔗 Share this article Craig Bellamy's squad Ready to Take on Whichever Opponent in World Cup Play-off Draw Wales have won eight of their last sixteen matches with manager Craig Bellamy The team's sights are firmly on Thursday's World Cup play-off draw as they prepare for learning their semi-final and potential final rivals. After finished second in their qualification pool following a decisive 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – Wales will play the semi-final encounter on their own turf. They will meet either Albania, Bosnia, the Kosovan team or Republic of Ireland in that match on 26 March. Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw feels the Dragons will embrace a match against any opponent following their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium. "I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mindset is 'give us anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw stated. "Many supporters were asking last night, 'should we really want Ireland because of that derby feel?'. In my view a number of supporters didn't. But for me, that would be amazing. "It's one of those, indeed, we'll take the Kosovans or Bosnia and Albania are competitive and Republic of Ireland, of course, they are a strong team so they'll be difficult. "However the sense is that we're prepared for anybody right now and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy." Possible Play-off Semifinal Opponents Evaluated The Welsh squad are placed thirty-fourth in the world rankings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia 75th and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth. Albania had a strong qualifying campaign, with their sole defeats coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured full points without conceding a single goal. Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's recognizable players, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their scoring tally in the qualifiers with three goals. Notably, Albania have not yet earned a spot for a World Cup, although they participated at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, not managing to advance to the knockout stages on both occasions. As Slovenia and Sweden had difficult campaigns, with both failing to win a qualification match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team. The Switzerland finished the six-game campaign 3 points clear of Kosovo, whose single defeat was at the hands of the group winners. The Kosovan squad feature former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic top scorer – in a team targeting a first major tournament appearance. They have not yet faced the Welsh team. Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated only one time in qualifying, and earned a point more than the Welsh managed in their eight games, but still ended 2 points adrift of their group winners Austria. They were 13 minutes away from securing a place at the World Cup, 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. Wales have failed to beat the Bosnians in four matches but did have a unforgettable loss against Zmajevi as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite the defeat. As his country's historic top goalscorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's key player. The 39-year-old was his squad's leading goalscorer in qualifying with 5 goals. And finally, we have Ireland. After secured only a single point from their opening three matches, Heimir HallgrÃmsson'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 bagging a hat-trick – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to take runner-up spot in Group F in thrilling style. Key player Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his team's revival while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting jersey his to keep. Ireland are without a win in their past four meetings with Wales, losing 3 of these, though 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.