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Wales' focus are squarely on the upcoming World Cup playoff fixture as they prepare for learning their semi-final and potential final rivals.

Having ended second in their qualification group thanks to a commanding 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – Wales will host the semifinal encounter on their own turf.

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

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will welcome a tie against whichever team following their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mindset is 'give us whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw stated.

"A lot of people were wondering recently, 'do we actually want Republic of Ireland as it's that derby atmosphere?'. In my view many supporters were hesitant. But personally, that could be fantastic.

"So it's that type of situation, indeed, we're ready for the Kosovans or Bosnia and Albania are decent and Ireland, naturally, they're a capable team so it will be difficult.

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

Possible Play-off Semi-final Opponents Assessed

Wales sit 34th in the world standings, with Albania sixty-first, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and Kosovo 84th.

Albania had a strong qualifying run, with their only losses coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured full points without conceding a single goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's recognizable players, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their scoring tally in the qualifiers with 3 goals.

Notably, the Albanians have never earned a spot for a World Cup, although they featured 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 poor campaigns, with each not managing to win a qualification match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Switzerland finished the six-game campaign three points clear of Kosovo, whose single loss was at the hands of the pool winners.

The Kosovan squad include ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic leading goalscorer – in a squad targeting a maiden international competition appearance.

They have never faced Wales.

Bosnia lost just once in qualifying, and claimed a point more than Wales managed in their eight games, but still ended 2 points adrift of Group H winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from clinching a spot at the finals, 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 not managed to beat the Bosnians in four attempts but experienced a unforgettable loss against Zmajevi as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

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

The veteran was his squad's top scorer in qualifying with 5 goals.

And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.

After secured just one point from their opening 3 qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the play-offs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott netted the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to take second place in Group F in thrilling style.

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

The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their past four encounters with the Welsh, defeated in three of those, although James McClean broke the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.