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Wales' focus are firmly on the upcoming World Cup play-off draw as they await learning their semifinal and potential final challengers.

After finished second in their qualification pool following a dominant 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – the side will host the semifinal encounter on home soil.

They will play against either the Albanian side, Bosnia, Kosovo or Ireland in that match on 26 March.

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw believes the Welsh squad will relish a match against whichever opponent following their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

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

"A lot of supporters were wondering last night, 'should we really want Ireland because of that derby feel?'. In my view a number of people didn't. But for me, that would be incredible.

"So it's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take the Kosovans or Bosnia and the Albanians are decent and Ireland, naturally, they are a very good team so they'll be tough.

"However 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 Playoff Semifinal Rivals Assessed

Wales sit thirty-fourth in the world standings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side 84th.

The Albanian national team had a strong qualifying run, 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 Albanian squad's prominent names, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their goal tally in qualifying with 3 goals.

Importantly, Albania have not yet earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, though they participated at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, failing to reach the knockout stages on both occasions.

While Slovenia and Sweden had difficult campaigns, with both not managing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Swiss ended the six-match qualifiers 3 points ahead of Kosovo, whose single defeat was at the hands of the pool winners.

Kosovo include ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time top scorer – in a squad targeting a first major tournament appearance.

They have never played Wales.

Bosnia lost only one time in the qualifiers, and claimed a point additional than Wales achieved in their 8 games, but nonetheless finished two points behind of their group winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from securing a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the pair tied in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.

Wales have failed to beat the Bosnian side in 4 matches but did have a unforgettable loss against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

Being his nation's all-time leading scorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player.

The 39-year-old was his squad's leading goalscorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.

Lastly, we have Ireland.

After taken only a single point from their first three matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the play-offs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott netted the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to secure second spot in Group F in thrilling style.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his team's resurgence while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting jersey his to keep.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their last 4 encounters with the Welsh, losing 3 of those, though James McClean shattered the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.