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

Having ended as runners-up in their qualifying group following a decisive 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – the side will play the semifinal match on home soil.

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

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will embrace a tie against whichever opponent after their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mentality is 'give us whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw stated.

"Many supporters were saying last night, 'do we really want Ireland because of that derby feel?'. I think many people were hesitant. But for me, that would be incredible.

"So it's one of those, yes, we'll take Kosovo or the Bosnians and Albania are competitive and Ireland, naturally, they're a very good team so they'll be challenging.

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

Potential Play-off Semi-final Opponents Evaluated

The Welsh squad sit thirty-fourth in the FIFA standings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a impressive qualification run, with their only defeats suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed full points without conceding a single goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's more notable players, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their scoring chart in the qualifiers with three goals.

It is worth noting, the Albanians have not yet qualified for a World Cup, although they participated at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, failing to reach the last 16 on both occasions.

As Slovenia and Sweden had poor campaigns, with both failing to win a qualifying match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Swiss ended the six-game campaign 3 points ahead of the Kosovans, whose one defeat was at the hands of the group winners.

Kosovo include former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time top scorer – in a squad aiming for a maiden international competition appearance.

They have never faced Wales.

Bosnia-Herzegovina lost only one time in the qualifiers, and claimed a point additional than the Welsh managed in their eight games, but nonetheless finished two points behind of their group winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from clinching a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians ensured the pair tied in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.

Wales have not managed to beat the Bosnians in four attempts but experienced a unforgettable defeat against the Dragons as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite losing.

Being his nation's historic top goalscorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player.

The 39-year-old was his team's leading goalscorer in qualifying with 5 goals.

Lastly, we have Ireland.

Having taken only a single point from their first three matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the play-offs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to secure second place in Group F in thrilling style.

Talisman Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his team's revival while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one jersey his to keep.

The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their last 4 meetings with Wales, defeated in 3 of these, although James McClean broke the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.