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Wales' attention are firmly on the upcoming World Cup play-off fixture as they await discovering their semi-final and potential final rivals.

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

They will face either the Albanian side, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo or Republic of Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw thinks the Dragons will welcome a tie against any opponent after their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.

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

"A lot of people were wondering last night, 'should we actually want Ireland because of that derby atmosphere?'. I think many supporters were hesitant. But personally, that would be amazing.

"So it's that type of situation, indeed, we're ready for Kosovo or the Bosnians and the Albanians are competitive and Ireland, naturally, they're a very good team so they'll be difficult.

"But the sense is that we'll take anybody right now and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semifinal Rivals Evaluated

Wales sit thirty-fourth in the FIFA standings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and the Kosovan side 84th.

The Albanian national team had a strong qualifying run, with their only losses coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured maximum points without allowing a solitary goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's more notable names, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their goal chart in qualifying with 3 goals.

Notably, the Albanians have never qualified for a FIFA World Cup, although they participated at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, not managing to advance to the last 16 on each occasions.

As Slovenia and Sweden endured difficult campaigns, with both failing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland finished the six-game campaign three points clear of the Kosovans, whose one defeat came at the hands of the group winners.

The Kosovan squad feature former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time top scorer – in a squad aiming for a first major tournament appearance.

They have not yet played the Welsh team.

Bosnia were defeated only one time in the qualifiers, and claimed a point additional than the Welsh managed in their eight games, but nonetheless finished 2 points behind 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 ensured the pair drew in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.

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

As his country's historic leading scorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's key player.

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

Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.

After taken just one point from their first 3 qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the playoffs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to take runner-up place in Group F in dramatic style.

Key player Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his team's revival while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one position his to keep.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their past 4 meetings with the Welsh, losing three of these, though James McClean shattered the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.