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Wales' focus are firmly on the upcoming World Cup play-off draw as they prepare for discovering their semi-final and possible final challengers.

After ended as runners-up in their qualification group following a dominant 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – Wales will host the semi-final match on their own turf.

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

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw believes the Welsh squad will relish a match against any opponent following their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

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

"A lot of supporters were wondering last night, 'should we really want Ireland because of that local feel?'. In my view many people were hesitant. But for me, that could be fantastic.

"So it's one of those, yes, we'll take the Kosovans or the Bosnians and Albania are not bad and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they are a very good team so they'll be difficult.

"But the sense is that we'll take anyone at the moment and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Potential Playoff Semifinal Opponents Assessed

Wales are placed thirty-fourth in the world standings, with Albania 61st, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side 84th.

The Albanian national team had a impressive qualification campaign, with their sole losses suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured full points without allowing a solitary goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's recognizable names, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their goal tally in qualifying with 3 goals.

Importantly, the Albanians have never earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, though they featured at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, not managing to advance to the last 16 on both times.

As Slovenia and Sweden had torrid runs, with both not managing to win a qualification match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

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

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

They have not yet played the Welsh team.

Bosnia lost only one time in the qualifiers, and claimed a points additional than the Welsh managed in their 8 games, but nonetheless ended two points adrift of their group winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from securing a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians meant the pair tied in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.

Wales have not managed to beat the Bosnian side in 4 attempts but experienced a unforgettable defeat against the Dragons as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

As his nation's historic top goalscorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's standout player.

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

Lastly, we have Ireland.

Having secured only a single point from their opening three qualifiers, 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 bagging a triple – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to take second place in Group F in thrilling style.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his side's resurgence while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting jersey his to keep.

Ireland are winless in their last four meetings with the Welsh, defeated in three of these, though James McClean broke the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.