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

After finished second in their qualification group thanks to a commanding 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – Wales will play the semifinal match on home soil.

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

Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw thinks the Dragons will embrace a tie against whichever opponent after their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mentality is 'bring on whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw stated.

"Many people were asking last night, 'should we really want Ireland as it's that derby feel?'. I think many people didn't. But for me, that would be incredible.

"It's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take the Kosovans or the Bosnians and the Albanians are decent and Ireland, naturally, they are a capable team so they'll be tough.

"But the sense is that we're prepared for anybody at the moment and it doesn't matter, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Possible Play-off Semifinal Rivals Evaluated

Wales are placed 34th in the world standings, with the Albanian team 61st, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia seventy-fifth and Kosovo eighty-fourth.

Albania enjoyed a strong qualification run, with their only defeats suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed full points without conceding a solitary goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's prominent players, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their goal tally in the qualifiers with 3 goals.

Importantly, Albania have never qualified for a FIFA World Cup, although they participated at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, failing to reach the last 16 on each times.

As Slovenia and Sweden had difficult runs, with each failing to win a qualification match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland ended the six-match campaign 3 points ahead of Kosovo, whose single defeat was at the hands of the pool winners.

The Kosovan squad feature former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time leading goalscorer – in a team targeting a first international competition appearance.

They have never faced Wales.

Bosnia-Herzegovina lost just once in qualifying, and claimed a points additional than Wales managed in their 8 games, but nonetheless ended two points adrift of Group H winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from securing a place at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians meant the pair tied in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the pool.

Wales have not managed to beat the Bosnian side in four matches but experienced a unforgettable loss against the Dragons as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite losing.

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

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

Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.

After taken just one point from their opening three qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the play-offs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott netted both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to take second place in their group in dramatic style.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his side's revival while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one position his own.

Ireland are without a win in their last 4 encounters with the Welsh, defeated in three of these, although James McClean broke the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.