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Wales' focus are firmly on the upcoming World Cup playoff draw as they prepare for discovering their semifinal and potential final opponents.

Having finished as runners-up in their qualification group thanks to a decisive 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – the side will play the semi-final encounter on their own turf.

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

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw thinks the Dragons will welcome a tie against whichever team following their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

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

"Many people were asking recently, 'should we really want Ireland as it's that local atmosphere?'. I think many people were hesitant. But personally, that would be fantastic.

"It's one of those, yes, we'll take the Kosovans or the Bosnians and the Albanians are decent and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they are a very good team so it will be challenging.

"But the sense is that we'll take anybody right now and we're confident, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Potential Playoff Semifinal Rivals Evaluated

The Welsh squad are placed thirty-fourth in the world rankings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side 84th.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a strong qualifying run, with their only defeats coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured maximum points without allowing a single 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 players, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their goal chart in qualifying with three goals.

Notably, the Albanians have not yet earned a spot for a World Cup, though they featured at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, failing to advance to the knockout stages on both times.

While Slovenia and Sweden had difficult campaigns, with each failing to win a qualifying match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

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

Kosovo feature ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic leading goalscorer – in a team targeting a maiden major tournament appearance.

They have not yet faced Wales.

Bosnia lost just once in qualifying, and earned a point more than Wales managed in their 8 games, but nonetheless finished two points behind of their group winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from securing a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the pair drew in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.

The Welsh have failed to defeat the Bosnian side in 4 attempts but did have a unforgettable loss against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

As his country's all-time top goalscorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's star player.

The veteran was his team's top scorer in the qualifiers with five goals.

Lastly, we have Ireland.

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

Troy Parrott netted both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to secure runner-up spot in Group F in dramatic fashion.

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

Ireland are winless in their last four meetings with Wales, losing three of those, though James McClean shattered the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.