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Wales' focus are firmly on the upcoming World Cup playoff draw as they await learning their semifinal and potential final opponents.

Having finished as runners-up in their qualifying group thanks to a decisive 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – Wales will host the semifinal match on their own turf.

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

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Dragons will embrace a match against any team following their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mindset is 'give us whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw said.

"A lot of fans were wondering recently, 'should we actually want Republic of Ireland as it's that derby feel?'. In my view many people were hesitant. But for me, that would be fantastic.

"So it's one of those, yes, we're ready for Kosovo or the Bosnians and the Albanians are not bad and Republic of Ireland, of course, they are a very good team so it will be difficult.

"But the sense is that we'll take anyone right now and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Potential Play-off Semifinal Opponents Assessed

The Welsh squad are placed 34th in the world rankings, with Albania sixty-first, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and Kosovo eighty-fourth.

Albania had a solid qualifying run, with their only losses suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed maximum points without allowing a solitary goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's more notable names, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their scoring chart in the qualifiers with three goals.

It is worth noting, the Albanians have not yet earned a spot for a World Cup, although they featured at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, not managing to advance to the knockout stages on each times.

While Slovenia and Sweden endured difficult campaigns, with each failing to win a qualification match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Switzerland ended the six-match campaign 3 points ahead of the Kosovans, whose one defeat was at the hands of the pool winners.

Kosovo include former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time leading goalscorer – in a team targeting a maiden major tournament appearance.

They have never played Wales.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated only one time in qualifying, and claimed a point more than Wales achieved in their eight games, but still finished two points adrift of Group H winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from securing a place at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians ensured the teams tied in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the pool.

Wales have not managed to beat the Bosnians in 4 attempts but did have a unforgettable loss against Zmajevi as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

Being his nation's all-time top goalscorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player.

The veteran was his team's top scorer in the qualifiers with five goals.

And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.

After secured just one point from their opening 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the playoffs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a hat-trick – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to secure runner-up place in their group in dramatic fashion.

Key player Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his side's revival while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting position his own.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their last four meetings with Wales, losing three of these, though James McClean shattered the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.