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Wales' sights are firmly on the upcoming World Cup playoff draw as they prepare for learning their semifinal and possible final challengers.

After finished as runners-up in their qualifying group following a dominant 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – the side will play the semi-final encounter on their own turf.

They will face either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo or Republic of Ireland in that match on 26 March.

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw believes the Dragons will embrace a tie against whichever team after their latest performance 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, 'should we really want Ireland as it's that derby feel?'. I think a number of supporters were hesitant. But personally, that could be amazing.

"So it's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take Kosovo or Bosnia and Albania are not bad and Republic of Ireland, of course, they are a capable team so they'll be challenging.

"But you just feel that we'll take anybody at the moment and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Possible Play-off Semi-final Opponents Evaluated

Wales are placed 34th in the world standings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia 75th and Kosovo eighty-fourth.

Albania had a strong qualification campaign, with their only losses suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who claimed maximum points without conceding a single goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's recognizable players, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their scoring chart in qualifying with 3 goals.

Importantly, the Albanians have not yet earned a spot for a World Cup, although they featured at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, not managing to advance to the last 16 on both times.

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

The Swiss ended the six-match campaign three points clear of Kosovo, whose one loss came at the hands of the group winners.

The Kosovan squad feature former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic top scorer – in a team aiming for a first major tournament appearance.

They have not yet played the Welsh team.

Bosnia-Herzegovina lost only one time in the qualifiers, and earned a points more than Wales achieved in their 8 games, but still finished 2 points behind of their group winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from securing a place 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 pool.

Wales have failed to defeat the Bosnian side in 4 attempts but did have a unforgettable defeat against Zmajevi as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after losing.

Being his country's historic top goalscorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player.

The veteran was his squad's leading goalscorer in the qualifiers with five goals.

And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.

After taken only a single 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 both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to take second spot in their group in dramatic fashion.

Key player Seamus Coleman had 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 last four meetings with the Welsh, defeated in 3 of these, although James McClean shattered the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.