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Wales' sights are squarely on the upcoming World Cup play-off fixture as they prepare for learning their semifinal and possible final rivals.

After finished second in their qualifying pool thanks to a commanding 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – Wales will host the semifinal encounter on home soil.

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

Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw feels the Dragons will relish a tie against any opponent after their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his approach is 'give us whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw commented.

"A lot of people were wondering recently, 'should we really want Republic of Ireland as it's that local feel?'. In my view a number of people were hesitant. But personally, that could be fantastic.

"So it's one of those, indeed, we'll take Kosovo or Bosnia and the Albanians are decent and Republic of Ireland, of course, they are a very good team so it will be challenging.

"But you just feel that we're prepared for anybody right now and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semifinal Rivals Assessed

Wales are placed 34th in the world rankings, with Albania 61st, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and Kosovo eighty-fourth.

The Albanian national team had a strong qualification run, with their sole losses coming at the hands of their group winners England, who secured maximum points without allowing a solitary goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's prominent players, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their scoring chart in qualifying with three goals.

Importantly, the Albanians have never earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, although they featured at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, failing to advance to the last 16 on each occasions.

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

The Swiss finished the six-game qualifiers three points ahead of Kosovo, whose one loss was at the hands of the group winners.

The Kosovan squad include former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic top scorer – in a team targeting a maiden major tournament appearance.

They have not yet played Wales.

Bosnia were defeated just once in the qualifiers, and earned a point more than the Welsh achieved in their 8 games, but nonetheless ended 2 points adrift of their group winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from clinching a place at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians ensured the pair drew in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the pool.

The Welsh have failed to beat the Bosnians in four matches but experienced a unforgettable defeat against the Dragons as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite losing.

As his country'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 top scorer in the qualifiers with five goals.

Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.

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

Troy Parrott netted both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to take second spot in their group in thrilling style.

Talisman Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his team's revival while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting jersey his to keep.

Ireland are without a win in their past 4 meetings with Wales, losing three of those, though 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.