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Wales' sights are firmly on the upcoming World Cup play-off draw as they await discovering their semi-final and possible final challengers.

Having finished as runners-up in their qualification pool thanks to a decisive 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – Wales will host the semi-final match on home soil.

They will meet either the Albanian side, Bosnia, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.

Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw thinks the Welsh squad will embrace a match against whichever team following their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mindset is 'give us anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw stated.

"Many supporters were wondering recently, 'do we actually want Republic of Ireland as it's that derby feel?'. I think a number of supporters didn't. But personally, that would be fantastic.

"It's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take Kosovo or Bosnia and the Albanians are not bad and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they are a strong team so they'll be challenging.

"However you just feel that we're prepared for anybody right now and we're confident, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semifinal Rivals Assessed

Wales are placed 34th in the world rankings, with Albania 61st, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.

The Albanian national team had a impressive qualifying run, with their only defeats coming at the hands of their group winners England, who secured full points without conceding a solitary goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's more notable players, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their goal chart in the qualifiers with three goals.

Importantly, the Albanians have never qualified for a World Cup, though they participated at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, failing to reach the knockout stages on each occasions.

While Slovenia and Sweden had difficult campaigns, with each not managing to win a qualification match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Swiss ended the six-game campaign 3 points clear of Kosovo, whose one defeat came at the hands of the group winners.

The Kosovan squad include former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time top scorer – in a team aiming for a first major tournament appearance.

They have not yet played Wales.

Bosnia lost just once in qualifying, and earned a point more than the Welsh achieved in their 8 games, but still finished two points behind of Group H winners Austria.

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

Wales have not managed to beat the Bosnians in 4 matches but did have a unforgettable defeat against Zmajevi as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after losing.

Being his country's all-time top goalscorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's standout player.

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

Lastly, we have Ireland.

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

Troy Parrott netted both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a hat-trick – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to secure second place in their group in thrilling fashion.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his team's resurgence while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting position his to keep.

Ireland are winless in their last 4 meetings with Wales, losing three of these, although James McClean shattered the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.