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Wales' focus are firmly on the upcoming World Cup playoff draw as they prepare for learning their semi-final and possible final rivals.

After ended second in their qualification pool thanks to a decisive 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – the side will host the semifinal match on their own turf.

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

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Dragons will relish a match against whichever team following their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mindset is 'give us whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw stated.

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

"So it's that type of situation, indeed, we're ready for the Kosovans or Bosnia and Albania are decent and Ireland, of course, they are a very good team so they'll be challenging.

"But you just feel that we'll take anyone right now and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semifinal Rivals Evaluated

The Welsh squad sit 34th in the world standings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia seventy-fifth and Kosovo eighty-fourth.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a solid qualifying campaign, with their sole defeats suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed full points without allowing a solitary goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's prominent players, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their scoring chart in the qualifiers with three goals.

Importantly, Albania have not yet earned a spot for a World Cup, although they participated at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, not managing to reach the last 16 on each occasions.

While Slovenia and Sweden endured difficult runs, with each failing to win a qualification match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Swiss ended the six-match campaign 3 points clear of the Kosovans, whose one loss was at the hands of the pool winners.

The Kosovan squad include former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic leading goalscorer – in a squad targeting a first international competition appearance.

They have never played Wales.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated just once in the qualifiers, and earned a point more than the Welsh achieved in their eight games, but still finished 2 points behind of Group H winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour 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 qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.

The Welsh have not managed to beat the Bosnian side in 4 matches but did have a memorable loss against Zmajevi as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

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

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

Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.

Having taken only a single point from their first three qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the playoffs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to take second place in Group F in thrilling fashion.

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

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their last four encounters with Wales, losing three of these, though James McClean shattered the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.