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Wales' focus are firmly on the upcoming World Cup play-off fixture as they prepare for discovering their semi-final and possible final rivals.

After finished as runners-up in their qualifying pool following a commanding 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – Wales will play the semifinal encounter on home soil.

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

Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will welcome a tie against whichever team after their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

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

"Many fans were asking recently, 'do we really want Republic of Ireland as it's that derby atmosphere?'. In my view many supporters didn't. But personally, that would be amazing.

"So it's one of those, indeed, we'll take the Kosovans or Bosnia and Albania are competitive and Republic of Ireland, of course, they are a strong team so it will be difficult.

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

Possible Playoff Semifinal Opponents Reviewed

Wales sit 34th in the world rankings, with Albania sixty-first, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and Kosovo 84th.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a impressive qualification campaign, with their sole defeats suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who secured maximum points without allowing a single goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's recognizable names, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their scoring tally in the qualifiers with 3 goals.

Notably, Albania have never qualified for a World Cup, though they participated at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, not managing to advance to the knockout stages on both times.

While Slovenia and Sweden endured difficult campaigns, with each not managing to win a qualifying match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Switzerland ended the six-game qualifiers three points clear of the Kosovans, whose one loss was at the hands of the pool winners.

Kosovo feature ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic top scorer – in a team targeting a first international competition appearance.

They have never faced Wales.

Bosnia were defeated only one time in the qualifiers, and claimed a point additional than the Welsh managed in their eight games, but still finished 2 points adrift of Group H winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from clinching a place at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians meant the teams drew in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the pool.

The Welsh have failed to defeat the Bosnian side in 4 attempts but did have a unforgettable defeat against Zmajevi as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite losing.

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

The 39-year-old was his team's top scorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.

Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.

After secured just one point from their first three matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the play-offs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a hat-trick – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to secure second spot in their group in thrilling fashion.

Talisman Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his side's resurgence while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting jersey his own.

Ireland are without a win in their past four meetings with the Welsh, defeated in 3 of these, although James McClean shattered the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.