Following Saturday’s World Cup 2018 Qualifying selection in Russia on Saturday, Wales boss Chris Coleman admitted that while certain groups may have presented an easier proposition for his side, overall he was content with the draw.
Wales are in Group D alongside Austria, Serbia, Republic of Ireland, Moldova and Georgia.
“It’s a good group and you look at other groups and think it maybe could have been easier, maybe it could have been tougher,” Coleman said.
“It’s a positive group, there’ll be some great games and I think the whole nation will be looking forward to it.”
Wales’ recent rise in former under Coleman’s guidance has seen the side climb to 10th in the world rankings, meaning they were placed amongst the top seedings for the draw.
However, Coleman knows that they will still face stiff opposition from the teams in their group.
“We’re looking forward to it. There’s some good teams in there, strong teams,” Coleman said.
“It’s never easy going to places like Georgia and Moldova. It’s always very difficult, and, of course, we know the quality of Republic of Ireland and Austria.
“In the last qualifying campaign in the 2014 World Cup we faced Serbia and were beaten heavily twice, so we know there’s good teams in there.
“But what we know is in the last two or three years we’ve really improved as a nation and at the moment, at our strongest, we fancy ourselves against anyone.
“I don’t say that flippantly because we’re in amongst some good teams.”
The top team from each group will qualify for the finals in Russia with the eight best second-placed teams going into the play-offs.
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