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

Having finished as runners-up in their qualification pool following a dominant 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – Wales will host the semifinal encounter on home soil.

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

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will embrace a tie against whichever team following their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

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

"Many people were wondering recently, 'should we really want Republic of Ireland because of that derby atmosphere?'. I think a number of supporters were hesitant. But personally, that would be amazing.

"So it's that type of situation, yes, we'll take the Kosovans or Bosnia and Albania are competitive and Ireland, of course, they're a very good team so they'll be challenging.

"However the sense is that we'll take anyone at the moment and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Potential Playoff Semifinal Rivals Assessed

The Welsh squad sit 34th in the world rankings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia seventy-fifth and Kosovo eighty-fourth.

The Albanian national team had a strong qualifying run, with their sole defeats coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured maximum points without conceding a single goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's recognizable players, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their scoring chart in qualifying with three goals.

Notably, the Albanians have never earned a spot for a World Cup, although they featured at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, not managing to advance to the knockout stages on each times.

While Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid runs, with both not managing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

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

Kosovo include former 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 Wales.

Bosnia were defeated just once in qualifying, and earned a point additional than Wales managed in their eight games, but still finished 2 points behind 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 ensured the teams tied in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the pool.

The Welsh have not managed to beat the Bosnian side in four matches but experienced a unforgettable loss against the Dragons as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after losing.

As his nation's historic top goalscorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's standout player.

The 39-year-old was his squad's top scorer in qualifying with 5 goals.

And finally, we have Ireland.

After taken only a single point from their opening 3 qualifiers, 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 arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to take second place in their group in thrilling fashion.

Key player Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his team's revival while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one jersey his to keep.

Ireland are winless in their past four meetings with the Welsh, defeated in 3 of these, though James McClean broke the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.