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Wales' focus are firmly on the upcoming World Cup playoff draw as they await learning their semi-final and potential final rivals.

Having finished second in their qualification pool following a commanding 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – Wales will host the semi-final encounter on home soil.

They will play against either Albania, Bosnia, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that match on 26 March.

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw thinks the Welsh squad will welcome a match against whichever opponent after their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

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

"A lot of fans were asking recently, 'do we actually want Republic of Ireland because of that derby feel?'. I think a number of supporters were hesitant. But personally, that would be amazing.

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

"But you just feel that we're prepared for anyone at the moment and we're confident, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Potential Playoff Semifinal Rivals Reviewed

The Welsh squad sit 34th in the world standings, with the Albanian team 61st, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.

Albania enjoyed a solid qualification run, with their only defeats suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed maximum points without allowing 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 former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their goal tally in the qualifiers with three goals.

Notably, the Albanians have never earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, though they featured at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, failing to reach the last 16 on both times.

While Slovenia and Sweden had difficult runs, with both failing to win a qualification match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Swiss finished the six-match qualifiers three points ahead of the Kosovans, whose single loss was at the hands of the pool winners.

Kosovo include ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time top scorer – in a squad targeting a first major tournament appearance.

They have never played the Welsh team.

Bosnia lost just once in qualifying, and earned a points more than the Welsh achieved in their eight games, but still ended two points behind of their group winners Austria.

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

The Welsh have failed to defeat the Bosnians in 4 matches but did have a memorable loss against the Dragons as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

As his nation'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 39-year-old was his squad's top scorer in qualifying with five goals.

Lastly, we have Ireland.

Having secured only a single point from their opening 3 qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the play-offs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a hat-trick – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to take second place in their group in thrilling style.

Talisman Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his team's revival while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one jersey his own.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their past 4 meetings with the Welsh, losing 3 of these, though James McClean shattered the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.