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Wales' attention are firmly on the upcoming World Cup play-off fixture as they await learning their semifinal and possible final challengers.

After finished second in their qualifying pool following a dominant 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – Wales will play the semi-final match on home soil.

They will play against either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.

Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw thinks the Welsh squad will welcome a match 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 commented.

"A lot of people were asking recently, 'should we really want Republic of Ireland as it's that derby feel?'. I think many supporters didn't. But personally, that would be amazing.

"It's one of those, yes, we're ready for Kosovo or the Bosnians and the Albanians are not bad and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they're a capable team so it will be tough.

"However the sense is that we're prepared for anybody right now and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Possible Play-off Semi-final Rivals Assessed

Wales are placed thirty-fourth in the FIFA standings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side 84th.

Albania enjoyed a solid qualifying campaign, with their sole defeats suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who claimed full points without allowing a solitary goal.

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

Notably, Albania have never qualified for a FIFA World Cup, though they featured at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, failing to reach the last 16 on each occasions.

While Slovenia and Sweden endured difficult campaigns, with both failing to win a qualification match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Swiss finished the six-game qualifiers three points clear of the Kosovans, whose one defeat came at the hands of the pool winners.

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

They have not yet played Wales.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated just once in qualifying, and earned a points more than the Welsh managed in their eight games, but nonetheless ended 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 equaliser for the Austrians ensured the pair drew in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the pool.

The Welsh have failed to beat the Bosnians in four matches but experienced a unforgettable defeat against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

Being his country's historic leading scorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's star player.

The veteran was his squad's leading goalscorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.

And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.

Having taken just one 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 both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to secure second place in their group in dramatic style.

Talisman Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his side's revival while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting jersey his own.

Ireland are winless in their last 4 meetings with the Welsh, defeated in three of these, though James McClean shattered the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.