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Wales' focus are squarely on the upcoming World Cup play-off draw as they await discovering their semi-final and potential final challengers.

Having ended as runners-up in their qualification pool following a decisive 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – Wales will play the semifinal encounter on their own turf.

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

Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will embrace a tie against any opponent after their most recent 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 said.

"Many supporters were wondering last night, 'do we actually want Republic of Ireland because of that derby feel?'. I think a number of supporters didn't. But for me, that would be fantastic.

"It's one of those, indeed, we're ready for the Kosovans or the Bosnians and Albania are not bad and Ireland, of course, they're a capable team so they'll be difficult.

"But you just feel that we'll take anybody right now and it doesn't matter, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Potential Playoff Semifinal Rivals Evaluated

Wales are placed 34th in the world rankings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia 75th and the Kosovan side 84th.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a strong qualification run, with their sole defeats suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who claimed maximum points without allowing a single goal.

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

Notably, Albania have not yet qualified for a FIFA World Cup, although they featured at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, not managing to advance to the knockout stages on both occasions.

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

The Switzerland ended the six-match qualifiers 3 points ahead of Kosovo, whose one loss came at the hands of the pool winners.

The Kosovan squad feature former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic leading goalscorer – in a team aiming for a first international competition appearance.

They have never faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia lost only one time in qualifying, and claimed a points more than Wales managed in their 8 games, but nonetheless finished two points adrift 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 meant the teams tied in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.

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

Being his country's all-time leading scorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's standout player.

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

Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.

Having taken just one point from their opening three matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the play-offs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored the two goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a hat-trick – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to take second place in Group F in dramatic fashion.

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

Ireland are without a win in their past 4 meetings with Wales, defeated in three of those, though James McClean shattered the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.