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

After ended second in their qualifying group following a decisive 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – the side will host the semi-final encounter on their own turf.

They will face either the Albanian side, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that match on 26 March.

Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw believes the Dragons will embrace a tie against any opponent following their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

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

"A lot of fans were saying recently, 'do we really want Republic of Ireland as it's that local atmosphere?'. In my view a number of people didn't. But for me, that would be incredible.

"So it's one of those, yes, we're ready for Kosovo or the Bosnians and Albania are competitive and Ireland, of course, they are a very good team so it will be challenging.

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

Potential Play-off Semi-final Rivals Evaluated

The Welsh squad are placed thirty-fourth in the FIFA standings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia 75th and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.

The Albanian national team had a solid qualification run, with their sole losses coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed full points without allowing a single goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's more notable players, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their goal tally in the qualifiers with 3 goals.

It is worth noting, the Albanians have not yet earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, although they participated at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, not managing to reach the knockout stages on both occasions.

While Slovenia and Sweden had difficult runs, with both not managing to win a qualification match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Swiss ended the six-match qualifiers 3 points ahead of Kosovo, whose one defeat was at the hands of the group winners.

Kosovo feature ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time leading goalscorer – in a team targeting a maiden international competition appearance.

They have not yet faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia lost only one time in the qualifiers, and claimed a points more than the Welsh managed in their eight games, but still finished 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 leveler for the Austrians meant the pair drew in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.

Wales have not managed to beat the Bosnians in four attempts but did have a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after losing.

Being his nation's all-time leading scorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's key player.

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

And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.

Having secured just one point from their first three qualifiers, 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 Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to take second place in Group F in dramatic style.

Key player Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his team's resurgence while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one jersey his own.

Ireland are without a win in their past 4 meetings with the Welsh, losing 3 of these, although 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.