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

Having ended second in their qualifying group following a dominant 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – the side will host the semi-final match on their own turf.

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

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw believes the Welsh squad will welcome a tie against any team after their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

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

"Many people were asking recently, 'do we really want Republic of Ireland as it's that local atmosphere?'. In my view a number of supporters were hesitant. But personally, that could be fantastic.

"So it's one of those, indeed, we're ready for Kosovo or the Bosnians and the Albanians are not bad and Republic of Ireland, of course, they're a capable team so they'll be difficult.

"But you just feel that we'll take anyone right now and it doesn't matter, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Potential Playoff Semi-final Rivals Reviewed

Wales are placed 34th in the world standings, with Albania sixty-first, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and Kosovo 84th.

Albania enjoyed a solid qualifying run, with their only losses coming at the hands of their group winners England, who secured full points without conceding a solitary goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's recognizable names, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their goal tally in qualifying with three goals.

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

As Slovenia and Sweden endured poor runs, with each not managing to win a qualification match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Switzerland finished the six-match campaign three points ahead of the Kosovans, whose single defeat was at the hands of the pool winners.

The Kosovan squad include former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time top scorer – in a team targeting a first international competition appearance.

They have never faced Wales.

Bosnia lost just once in the qualifiers, and claimed a points additional than Wales achieved in their eight games, but still ended two points adrift of Group H winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from securing a place at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians ensured the teams drew in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.

Wales have failed to defeat the Bosnian side in four matches but did have a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

Being his country's historic leading scorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's key player.

The veteran was his team's leading goalscorer in qualifying with 5 goals.

And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.

After secured only a single point from their opening 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged 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 hat-trick – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to take runner-up spot in Group F in dramatic fashion.

Key player Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his team's resurgence while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting position his to keep.

The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their past 4 encounters with the Welsh, defeated in 3 of those, although James McClean broke the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.