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Wales' focus are firmly on the upcoming World Cup playoff draw as they await discovering their semifinal and possible final challengers.

After ended as runners-up in their qualification pool thanks to a decisive 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – Wales will play the semifinal match on their own turf.

They will face either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.

Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw thinks the Welsh squad will welcome a match against whichever opponent following their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mentality is 'give us anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw commented.

"A lot of fans were wondering last night, 'should we actually want Ireland as it's that local atmosphere?'. I think many supporters were hesitant. But for me, that could be amazing.

"It's that type of situation, indeed, we're ready for Kosovo or the Bosnians and Albania are not bad and Ireland, of course, they're a very good team so they'll be difficult.

"But you just feel that we're prepared for anyone right now and we're confident, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Potential Play-off Semifinal Opponents Reviewed

Wales are placed thirty-fourth in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia 75th and the Kosovan side 84th.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a solid qualification run, with their sole defeats coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured maximum points without allowing a single goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's more notable players, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their goal tally in qualifying with 3 goals.

Notably, the Albanians have never qualified for a World Cup, although they featured at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, failing to reach the knockout stages on each times.

As Slovenia and Sweden had torrid campaigns, with each not managing to win a qualification match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.

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

Kosovo feature ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time leading goalscorer – in a squad aiming for a first international competition appearance.

They have not yet faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated only one time in qualifying, and claimed a point additional than the Welsh achieved in their 8 games, but still finished two points behind of Group H winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from clinching a place at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians meant the pair drew in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.

Wales have failed to defeat the Bosnian side in four attempts but experienced a unforgettable loss against the Dragons as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after losing.

Being his country's all-time leading scorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player.

The veteran was his squad's leading goalscorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.

Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.

Having taken just one point from their opening three qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the playoffs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored the two goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to take runner-up place in their group in dramatic style.

Key player Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his side's revival while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting position his to keep.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their past 4 meetings with the Welsh, losing three of those, though James McClean broke the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.