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Wales' attention are squarely on the upcoming World Cup playoff draw as they prepare for discovering their semifinal and possible final rivals.

After finished as runners-up in their qualification pool following a dominant 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – the side will host the semi-final encounter on home soil.

They will face either the Albanian side, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo or Republic of Ireland in that match on 26 March.

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw believes the Dragons will embrace a match against whichever opponent after their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mentality is 'bring on anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw said.

"Many fans were saying last night, 'should we actually want Republic of Ireland because of that local feel?'. I think many people didn't. But personally, that would be amazing.

"It's one of those, yes, we're ready for the Kosovans or the Bosnians and the Albanians are not bad and Republic of Ireland, of course, they're a very good team so they'll be tough.

"But you just feel that we're prepared for anyone right now and it doesn't matter, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Potential Play-off Semi-final Rivals Evaluated

Wales are placed thirty-fourth in the FIFA rankings, with Albania sixty-first, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side 84th.

Albania enjoyed a strong qualification run, with their sole losses suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed full points without conceding a single goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's recognizable players, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their goal chart in the qualifiers with three goals.

It is worth noting, the Albanians have never earned a spot for a World Cup, although they featured at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, failing to reach the knockout stages on both times.

While Slovenia and Sweden had difficult runs, with each failing to win a qualifying match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Swiss ended the six-game qualifiers three points ahead of Kosovo, whose one defeat was at the hands of the group winners.

The Kosovan squad feature former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time leading goalscorer – in a squad aiming for a maiden major tournament appearance.

They have not yet faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia lost just once in qualifying, and claimed a points additional than Wales achieved in their 8 games, but still ended 2 points behind of Group H winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from clinching a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians ensured the pair drew in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.

The Welsh have not managed to beat the Bosnian side in 4 attempts but did have a memorable defeat against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

Being his country's historic leading scorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player.

The veteran was his squad's leading goalscorer in qualifying with 5 goals.

And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.

Having secured just one point from their opening three qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed 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 coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to take second place in Group F in thrilling style.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his side's resurgence while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting position his own.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their past four encounters with the Welsh, losing 3 of those, although James McClean broke the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.