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

Having finished as runners-up in their qualifying group following a commanding 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – Wales will play the semi-final encounter on their own turf.

They will meet either Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo or Ireland in that match on 26 March.

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw believes the Welsh squad will welcome a match against whichever opponent after their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his approach is 'bring on whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw said.

"A lot of supporters were asking recently, 'should we really want Ireland because of that local atmosphere?'. I think a number of people didn't. But for me, that would be amazing.

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

"But the sense is that we'll take anybody right now and we're confident, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

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The Welsh squad sit 34th in the FIFA standings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side 84th.

Albania enjoyed a impressive qualifying run, with their sole losses suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured maximum points without conceding a single goal.

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

It is worth noting, Albania have never earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, though they featured at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, failing to advance to the knockout stages on each times.

While Slovenia and Sweden endured difficult campaigns, with each failing to win a qualifying match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Switzerland ended the six-game qualifiers three points ahead of Kosovo, whose one defeat was 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 all-time top scorer – in a team targeting a first major tournament appearance.

They have not yet played the Welsh team.

Bosnia were defeated just once in qualifying, and claimed a point more than the Welsh managed in their 8 games, but nonetheless ended 2 points behind of their group winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from securing a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians meant the pair tied in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.

The Welsh have failed to beat the Bosnian side in 4 attempts but experienced a unforgettable defeat against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite losing.

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

The 39-year-old was his team's leading goalscorer in qualifying with 5 goals.

Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.

Having secured only a single point from their first three qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the playoffs 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 final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to take second place in Group F in thrilling fashion.

Key player Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his team's revival while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting jersey his own.

The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their last 4 encounters with Wales, losing three of those, although James McClean shattered the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.