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

Having ended as runners-up in their qualifying group following a dominant 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – the side will play the semifinal match on their own turf.

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

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw believes the Dragons will welcome a tie against whichever opponent following their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his approach is 'give us anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw said.

"Many supporters were asking last night, 'do we really want Ireland because of that local atmosphere?'. I think many supporters were hesitant. But personally, that could be incredible.

"So it's one of those, indeed, we'll take Kosovo or the Bosnians and Albania are competitive and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they are a very good team so they'll be difficult.

"But you just feel that we'll take anyone right now and it doesn't matter, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Potential Play-off Semi-final Opponents Assessed

The Welsh squad are placed 34th in the FIFA rankings, with Albania 61st, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.

The Albanian national team had a strong qualifying campaign, with their sole losses coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured maximum points without conceding a solitary goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's prominent players, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their scoring tally in the qualifiers with three goals.

Importantly, Albania have never qualified for a World Cup, although they participated at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, failing to advance to the last 16 on both occasions.

While Slovenia and Sweden had poor campaigns, with each failing to win a qualification match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Swiss finished the six-match campaign three points ahead of Kosovo, whose one loss was at the hands of the group winners.

The Kosovan squad feature ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time leading goalscorer – in a squad targeting a first major tournament appearance.

They have never faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia were defeated only one time in qualifying, and claimed a points additional than the Welsh achieved in their eight games, but still ended 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 teams drew in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.

The Welsh have not managed to defeat the Bosnian side in 4 attempts but did have a unforgettable loss against Zmajevi as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after losing.

As his country's historic leading scorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player.

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

And finally, we have Ireland.

Having taken only a single point from their first 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the playoffs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored the two goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to secure runner-up place in their group in thrilling fashion.

Key player Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his team's resurgence while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one position his to keep.

The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their past 4 meetings with the Welsh, defeated in three of these, though James McClean broke the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.