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Wales' sights are squarely on the upcoming World Cup playoff draw as they await learning their semifinal and potential final challengers.

After ended second in their qualification pool thanks to a decisive 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – the side will play the semifinal match on home soil.

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

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw believes the Welsh squad will welcome a match against any team after their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mindset is 'bring on whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw stated.

"Many supporters were asking recently, 'do we actually want Republic of Ireland as it's that derby feel?'. I think many people didn't. But for me, that could be fantastic.

"So it's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take Kosovo or Bosnia and the Albanians are competitive and Ireland, of course, they're a capable team so it will be difficult.

"However you just feel that we're prepared for anyone right now and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Potential Playoff Semi-final Opponents Reviewed

Wales sit 34th in the FIFA standings, with Albania 61st, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side 84th.

Albania enjoyed a impressive qualification run, with their only defeats coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured maximum points without conceding a single goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's more notable names, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their scoring tally in the qualifiers with three goals.

Notably, the Albanians have not yet earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, although they featured at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, failing to advance to the knockout stages on each occasions.

As Slovenia and Sweden endured poor campaigns, with each not managing to win a qualifying match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Swiss ended the six-match qualifiers 3 points ahead of the Kosovans, 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 nation's all-time top scorer – in a squad aiming for a maiden international competition appearance.

They have not yet played the Welsh team.

Bosnia were defeated only one time in qualifying, and claimed a points more than Wales managed in their eight games, but nonetheless finished 2 points adrift of Group H winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from securing a place at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians ensured the pair tied in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the pool.

Wales have not managed to beat the Bosnians in 4 matches but did have a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

Being his nation's all-time leading scorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's standout player.

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

And finally, we have Ireland.

After secured just one point from their opening 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the playoffs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott netted both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to secure runner-up spot in their group in dramatic fashion.

Key player Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his side's resurgence while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one position his own.

The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their last four encounters with the Welsh, losing 3 of these, though James McClean broke 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.