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

Having ended second in their qualifying group following a decisive 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – Wales will play the semifinal match on home soil.

They will face either the Albanian side, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Kosovan team or Republic of Ireland in that match on 26 March.

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw thinks the Dragons will relish a match against any opponent following their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his approach is 'bring on anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw commented.

"Many supporters were wondering last night, 'should we actually want Ireland because of that derby atmosphere?'. In my view a number of people were hesitant. But for me, that could be fantastic.

"It's one of those, yes, we'll take Kosovo or Bosnia and Albania are competitive and Ireland, of course, they're a capable team so they'll be tough.

"But the sense is that we'll take anybody right now and we're confident, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Possible Play-off Semi-final Rivals Evaluated

Wales are placed thirty-fourth in the FIFA standings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia 75th and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.

Albania enjoyed a impressive qualification campaign, with their only losses coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured maximum points without allowing a single goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's recognizable players, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their scoring tally in qualifying with 3 goals.

Notably, Albania have never earned a spot for a World Cup, though they featured at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, failing to reach the knockout stages on each occasions.

As Slovenia and Sweden had torrid runs, with both failing to win a qualification match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Switzerland finished the six-match campaign 3 points ahead of Kosovo, whose one loss came at the hands of the group winners.

Kosovo include former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time leading goalscorer – in a team aiming for a maiden international competition appearance.

They have never faced Wales.

Bosnia were defeated just once in qualifying, and earned a point more than Wales managed in their 8 games, but nonetheless ended 2 points behind of Group H winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from securing a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the pair tied in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.

Wales have not managed to defeat the Bosnians in four attempts but experienced a memorable loss against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

Being his nation's all-time top goalscorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's standout player.

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

And finally, we have Ireland.

Having taken just one point from their first 3 qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the playoffs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to take second place in their group in thrilling fashion.

Key player Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his team's revival while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting position his own.

Ireland are winless in their last 4 meetings with Wales, defeated in 3 of those, although James McClean shattered the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.