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Wales' attention are squarely on the upcoming World Cup playoff draw as they await learning their semifinal and potential final challengers.

After ended second in their qualifying group following a decisive 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – Wales will play the semifinal match on their own turf.

They will meet either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Kosovan team or Republic of Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.

Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw feels the Dragons will relish a match against whichever opponent after their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.

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

"A lot of fans were wondering last night, 'do we really want Ireland as it's that local atmosphere?'. In my view a number of supporters didn't. But personally, that would be amazing.

"It's one of those, indeed, we're ready for Kosovo or Bosnia and the Albanians are decent and Republic of Ireland, of course, they are a strong team so they'll be difficult.

"However the sense is that we'll take anybody right now and it doesn't matter, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Potential Playoff Semi-final Rivals Assessed

Wales sit thirty-fourth in the FIFA rankings, with Albania 61st, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia seventy-fifth and Kosovo 84th.

Albania had a solid qualifying run, with their sole losses suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed maximum points without conceding a solitary goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's recognizable names, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their scoring chart in qualifying with 3 goals.

It is worth noting, Albania have not yet earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, though they participated at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, not managing to reach the knockout stages on both times.

As Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid runs, with both failing to win a qualification match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Swiss ended the six-match campaign 3 points ahead of the Kosovans, whose single defeat came at the hands of the group winners.

The Kosovan squad feature former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time leading goalscorer – in a team targeting a first major tournament appearance.

They have never played the Welsh team.

Bosnia-Herzegovina lost just once in the qualifiers, and earned a points additional than the Welsh achieved in their 8 games, but nonetheless finished 2 points adrift of Group H winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from clinching a place at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians meant the teams drew in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.

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

As his country's historic leading scorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player.

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

And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.

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

Troy Parrott netted the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to take second spot in their group in dramatic fashion.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his team's revival while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one jersey his own.

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