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Wales' focus are squarely on the upcoming World Cup playoff draw as they await discovering their semi-final and possible final opponents.

After finished second in their qualification group following a decisive 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – Wales will play the semi-final match on home soil.

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

Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw thinks the Dragons will relish a tie against whichever team after their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his approach is 'bring on anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw commented.

"Many fans were saying recently, 'do we really want Republic of Ireland because of that local atmosphere?'. In my view a number of people didn't. But personally, that would be amazing.

"So it's that type of situation, yes, we're ready for Kosovo or Bosnia and Albania are decent and Republic of Ireland, of course, they're a capable team so it will be challenging.

"But the sense is that we're prepared for anyone at the moment and it doesn't matter, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Possible Play-off Semifinal Rivals Evaluated

The Welsh squad are placed thirty-fourth in the FIFA standings, with Albania 61st, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side 84th.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a impressive qualification run, with their sole defeats suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who claimed full points without conceding a solitary goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's more notable names, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their goal tally 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, not managing to advance to the last 16 on both times.

As Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid runs, with both not managing to win a qualification match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland finished the six-game qualifiers three points ahead of Kosovo, whose single loss was at the hands of the group winners.

Kosovo include former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic leading goalscorer – in a team aiming for a first major tournament appearance.

They have never faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia were defeated only one time in the qualifiers, and claimed a point more than the Welsh managed in their 8 games, but still ended 2 points adrift of Group H winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from securing a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the teams tied in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.

The Welsh have not managed to beat the Bosnians in 4 attempts but did have a unforgettable defeat against Zmajevi as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite losing.

As his country's historic top goalscorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's star player.

The 39-year-old was his squad's top scorer in qualifying with 5 goals.

Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.

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

Troy Parrott scored the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to take second place in Group F in dramatic fashion.

Key player Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his team's resurgence while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting jersey his to keep.

Ireland are without a win in their last 4 encounters with Wales, defeated in 3 of those, although James McClean broke the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.