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Wales' attention are firmly on the upcoming World Cup play-off draw as they await learning their semifinal and possible final rivals.

Having finished second in their qualification pool following a commanding 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – Wales will host the semi-final match on their own turf.

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

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw thinks the Welsh squad will embrace a tie against whichever opponent following their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his approach is 'give us anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw said.

"A lot of people were saying recently, 'do we really want Republic of Ireland as it's that local feel?'. In my view a number of supporters were hesitant. But personally, that could be incredible.

"It's one of those, yes, we'll take the Kosovans or the Bosnians and Albania are not bad and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they are a strong team so they'll be challenging.

"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."

Possible Playoff Semi-final Opponents Evaluated

The Welsh squad sit thirty-fourth in the world standings, with Albania sixty-first, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.

Albania had a strong qualifying run, with their sole defeats coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured maximum points without allowing a single goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's prominent names, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their goal tally in the qualifiers with three goals.

Notably, the Albanians have not yet qualified for a FIFA World Cup, although they participated at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, not managing to advance to the knockout stages on each occasions.

As Slovenia and Sweden endured poor campaigns, with both not managing to win a qualification match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Swiss ended the six-match qualifiers 3 points ahead of Kosovo, whose single defeat came at the hands of the pool winners.

The Kosovan squad feature ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic leading goalscorer – in a team targeting a maiden major tournament appearance.

They have never faced Wales.

Bosnia-Herzegovina lost only one time in the qualifiers, and claimed a points additional than Wales managed in their eight games, but still finished two points adrift of their group winners Austria.

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

The Welsh have failed to defeat the Bosnian side in four matches but experienced a memorable loss against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

As his nation's all-time top goalscorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's standout player.

The veteran was his squad's top scorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.

Lastly, we have Ireland.

After secured just one point from their first 3 qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the play-offs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott netted both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to secure runner-up place in Group F in thrilling style.

Key player Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his team's revival while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one position his to keep.

Ireland are without a win in their last four encounters with Wales, defeated in 3 of those, although James McClean broke the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.