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Wales' attention are squarely on the upcoming World Cup play-off draw as they prepare for learning their semifinal and possible final opponents.

After finished as runners-up in their qualification pool thanks to a dominant 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – the side will play the semifinal match on their own turf.

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

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw believes the Welsh squad will embrace a tie against whichever opponent following their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his approach is 'bring on whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw commented.

"Many fans were asking recently, 'do we really want Ireland because of that local feel?'. I think many supporters were hesitant. But for me, that would be fantastic.

"So it's that type of situation, indeed, we're ready for the Kosovans or the Bosnians and Albania are decent and Republic of Ireland, of course, they're a strong team so it will be challenging.

"However the sense is that we're prepared for anyone right now and it doesn't matter, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

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The Welsh squad are placed 34th in the FIFA rankings, with Albania sixty-first, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia 75th and the Kosovan side 84th.

Albania enjoyed a solid qualification campaign, with their only defeats suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who claimed maximum points without conceding a solitary goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's recognizable players, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their goal chart in qualifying with 3 goals.

Importantly, Albania have not yet qualified for a FIFA World Cup, though they participated at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, not managing to reach the knockout stages on both occasions.

As Slovenia and Sweden had poor campaigns, with both failing to win a qualifying match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Swiss ended the six-match qualifiers three points ahead of Kosovo, whose single defeat was at the hands of the group winners.

The Kosovan squad feature former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic top scorer – in a team aiming for a first major tournament appearance.

They have never played the Welsh team.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated just once in qualifying, and earned a points more than Wales managed in their 8 games, but nonetheless finished two points adrift of their group winners Austria.

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

Wales have failed to beat the Bosnians in four attempts but experienced a unforgettable defeat against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite losing.

As his country's historic leading scorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's key player.

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

Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.

Having secured only a single point from their opening three matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the playoffs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored the two goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to take runner-up place in their group in dramatic fashion.

Key player Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his team's revival while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one jersey his own.

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