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

Having ended second in their qualification group thanks to a dominant 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – the side will host the semifinal encounter on their own turf.

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

Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will embrace a tie against any team after their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mentality is 'bring on anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw stated.

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

"It's that type of situation, yes, we're ready for Kosovo or the Bosnians and the Albanians are competitive and Ireland, of course, they are a strong team so they'll be tough.

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

Potential Play-off Semifinal Rivals Assessed

Wales are placed 34th in the world rankings, with Albania 61st, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.

The Albanian national team had a impressive qualification campaign, with their only defeats suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed maximum points without allowing a single goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's recognizable players, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their scoring tally in qualifying with 3 goals.

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

As Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid campaigns, with each failing to win a qualification match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Switzerland finished the six-game campaign three points clear of the Kosovans, whose single defeat was at the hands of the pool winners.

The Kosovan squad feature ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic top scorer – in a team targeting a first major tournament appearance.

They have never faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated only one time in the qualifiers, and earned a points more than Wales achieved in their 8 games, but still ended two points adrift of Group H winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from securing a place at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the pair drew in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.

The Welsh have failed to beat the Bosnian side in 4 matches but did have a memorable defeat against Zmajevi as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

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

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

Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.

After taken just one point from their opening three qualifiers, 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 bagging a triple – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to secure second spot in Group F in dramatic fashion.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his side's resurgence while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one jersey his own.

Ireland are without a win in their past 4 meetings with Wales, defeated in three of those, although James McClean broke the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.