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Wales' focus are firmly on the upcoming World Cup playoff fixture as they await discovering their semifinal and possible final opponents.

After ended as runners-up in their qualifying group following a commanding 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – the side will host the semi-final encounter on home soil.

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

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw believes the Welsh squad will embrace a match against whichever opponent following their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mentality is 'bring on whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw commented.

"Many people were wondering recently, 'do we really want Ireland because of that local feel?'. In my view a number of people didn't. But personally, that could be amazing.

"So it's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take Kosovo or the Bosnians and Albania are not bad and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they're a very good team so they'll be difficult.

"However the sense is that we'll take anyone right now and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Potential Playoff Semifinal Rivals Assessed

The Welsh squad sit thirty-fourth in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team 61st, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side 84th.

Albania had a solid qualifying campaign, with their only defeats suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who secured maximum points without conceding a solitary goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's recognizable names, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their goal tally in the qualifiers with three goals.

Notably, Albania have never earned a spot for a World Cup, although they featured at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, not managing to advance to the last 16 on each occasions.

While Slovenia and Sweden had poor runs, with each failing to win a qualification match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Swiss finished the six-match campaign three points ahead of the Kosovans, whose one defeat came at the hands of the pool winners.

Kosovo include former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time top scorer – in a squad targeting a maiden major tournament appearance.

They have never faced Wales.

Bosnia were defeated just once in qualifying, and earned a points more than the Welsh managed in their eight games, but still finished 2 points adrift of their group winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from securing a place at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the teams drew in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the pool.

The Welsh have not managed to defeat the Bosnian side in four matches but did have a unforgettable loss against the Dragons as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

Being his nation's all-time top goalscorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's key player.

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

Lastly, we have Ireland.

After taken only a single point from their opening 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the play-offs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott netted the two goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to take second spot in Group F in thrilling fashion.

Key player Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his side's resurgence while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting position his to keep.

The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their last four meetings with Wales, losing three of these, though James McClean broke the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.