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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 challengers.

Having ended as runners-up in their qualifying group following a commanding 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – Wales will host the semifinal match on home soil.

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

Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw believes the Dragons will welcome a tie against any team after their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mentality is 'bring on whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw stated.

"Many fans were saying recently, 'do we really want Republic of Ireland because of that local atmosphere?'. In my view many supporters were hesitant. But for me, that would be amazing.

"So it's that type of situation, yes, we're ready for Kosovo or the Bosnians and Albania are not bad and Ireland, naturally, they're a very good team so they'll be challenging.

"But the sense is that we're prepared for anyone at the moment and we're confident, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Potential Play-off Semifinal Opponents Reviewed

The Welsh squad are placed 34th in the world standings, with Albania sixty-first, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side 84th.

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

Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's recognizable names, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their goal chart in qualifying with three goals.

Notably, Albania have not yet earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, although they featured at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, failing to reach the knockout stages on each times.

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

The Swiss ended the six-match qualifiers three points clear of Kosovo, whose one loss came at the hands of the group winners.

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

They have not yet played Wales.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated just once in qualifying, and earned a points additional than Wales managed in their 8 games, but nonetheless ended two points adrift of Group H winners Austria.

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

The Welsh have failed to beat the Bosnians in 4 attempts but did have a memorable loss against the Dragons as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after losing.

Being his country's all-time leading scorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's key player.

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

Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.

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

Troy Parrott netted both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a triple – 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.

Talisman Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his team's resurgence while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting jersey his own.

Ireland are without a win in their past 4 encounters with Wales, defeated in three of these, although James McClean shattered the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.