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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 second in their qualification group thanks to a commanding 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – the side will play the semi-final match on their own turf.

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

Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw feels the Dragons will embrace a match against any team after their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his approach is 'give us anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw commented.

"A lot of people were saying recently, 'do we really want Ireland because of that local feel?'. I think many supporters didn't. But personally, that could be incredible.

"So it's that type of situation, yes, we're ready for the Kosovans or the Bosnians and the Albanians are competitive and Ireland, of course, they are a strong team so it will be challenging.

"However the sense is that we'll take anybody at the moment and it doesn't matter, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semi-final Rivals Assessed

The Welsh squad sit thirty-fourth in the FIFA standings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia 75th and Kosovo eighty-fourth.

Albania enjoyed a strong qualifying campaign, with their sole defeats coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed maximum points without conceding a solitary goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's more notable players, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their goal chart in the qualifiers with 3 goals.

Importantly, Albania have never earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, although they participated at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, failing to advance to the last 16 on each occasions.

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

The Swiss ended the six-match campaign three points ahead of Kosovo, whose single loss was at the hands of the pool winners.

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

They have not yet faced Wales.

Bosnia-Herzegovina lost only one time in the qualifiers, and claimed a point more than the Welsh achieved in their 8 games, but still ended two points behind of Group H winners Austria.

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

Wales have failed to defeat the Bosnian side in four attempts but did have a memorable defeat against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

As his nation's all-time top goalscorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina'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 first three 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 hat-trick – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to secure runner-up spot in their group in dramatic fashion.

Talisman Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his side's resurgence while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one position his to keep.

The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their past 4 meetings with the Welsh, losing 3 of those, though James McClean shattered the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.