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Wales' sights are squarely on the upcoming World Cup play-off draw as they await learning their semifinal and possible final challengers.

Having finished as runners-up in their qualification group thanks to a commanding 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – Wales will host the semi-final encounter on their own turf.

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

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

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mindset is 'bring on whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw commented.

"Many supporters were wondering last night, 'do we actually want Republic of Ireland because of that derby feel?'. I think many supporters didn't. But personally, that would be amazing.

"It's that type of situation, indeed, we're ready for the Kosovans or Bosnia and Albania are not bad and Ireland, of course, they're a capable team so it will be tough.

"However you just feel that we'll take anybody at the moment and we're confident, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semi-final Opponents Assessed

Wales sit 34th in the FIFA rankings, with Albania 61st, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side 84th.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a impressive qualification campaign, with their sole 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 part of the Albanian squad's prominent names, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their scoring tally in the qualifiers with 3 goals.

Importantly, Albania have never earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, although they featured at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, failing to reach the knockout stages on both times.

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

The Switzerland finished the six-match campaign 3 points clear of the Kosovans, whose one loss was at the hands of the group winners.

Kosovo feature ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic leading goalscorer – in a team aiming for a maiden major tournament appearance.

They have not yet played Wales.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated just once in qualifying, and claimed a points more than Wales managed in their 8 games, but nonetheless finished 2 points adrift of their group winners Austria.

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

Wales have failed to beat the Bosnian side in four attempts but did have a memorable defeat against Zmajevi as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after losing.

Being his nation's historic top goalscorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's key player.

The veteran was his team's leading goalscorer in qualifying with 5 goals.

And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.

After taken only a single point from their first 3 qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the play-offs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott netted both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to take second place in Group F in dramatic style.

Talisman Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his team's revival while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting jersey his own.

The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their last four meetings with the Welsh, defeated in three of these, although James McClean broke the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.