đź”— Share this article Wales Prepared to Challenge Anyone in FIFA World Cup Playoff Draw Wales have won eight of their last 16 matches with manager Craig Bellamy The team's attention are squarely on Thursday's World Cup playoff fixture as they prepare for learning their semi-final and potential final rivals. After ended second in their qualification pool following a commanding 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – Wales will host the semifinal match on their own turf. They will meet either the Albanian side, Bosnia, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March. Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw believes the Dragons will welcome a tie against whichever team following their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium. "I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mindset is 'bring on whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw said. "Many people were asking last night, 'should we actually want Republic of Ireland as it's that derby atmosphere?'. I think many supporters didn't. But for me, that would be amazing. "It's that type of situation, yes, we'll take the Kosovans or the Bosnians and the Albanians are not bad and Ireland, naturally, they are a strong team so it will be difficult. "However you just feel that we're prepared for anybody at the moment and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy." Potential Play-off Semi-final Opponents Assessed Wales sit 34th in the world rankings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side 84th. Albania enjoyed a impressive qualifying campaign, with their sole defeats coming at the hands of their group winners England, who secured maximum points without allowing a single goal. Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's more notable names, although 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 not yet qualified for a FIFA World Cup, although they participated at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, failing to reach the knockout stages on both occasions. While Slovenia and Sweden had torrid campaigns, with each failing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo. The Switzerland ended the six-match campaign three points ahead 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 all-time top scorer – in a squad aiming for a first major tournament appearance. They have never played Wales. Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated just once in qualifying, and earned a point more than the Welsh achieved in their 8 games, but still finished two points adrift of their group winners Austria. They were 13 minutes away from securing a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians ensured the teams tied in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group. The Welsh have not managed to beat the Bosnian side in 4 matches but did have a memorable loss against Zmajevi as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite losing. As his country's historic leading scorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's standout player. The 39-year-old was his squad's leading goalscorer in qualifying with five goals. Lastly, we have Ireland. Having secured only a single point from their first three matches, Heimir HallgrĂmsson's side surged into the playoffs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary. Troy Parrott scored both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to secure runner-up spot in Group F in dramatic style. Talisman Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his side's resurgence while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one position his own. The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their last 4 meetings with Wales, defeated in 3 of these, although James McClean shattered the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.