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

Having finished second in their qualification pool following a dominant 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – the side will host the semifinal encounter on home soil.

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

Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw thinks the Dragons will welcome a match against whichever opponent following their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

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

"Many people were asking last night, 'do we actually want Republic of Ireland as it's that local atmosphere?'. I think a number of supporters didn't. But for me, that would be incredible.

"So it's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take Kosovo or the Bosnians and the Albanians are not bad and Ireland, naturally, they're a strong team so they'll be tough.

"However the sense is that we're prepared for anyone at the moment and we're confident, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semi-final Opponents Reviewed

The Welsh squad are placed thirty-fourth in the world standings, with Albania 61st, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.

Albania enjoyed a strong qualification run, with their only losses suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured 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 prominent players, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their goal tally in the qualifiers with 3 goals.

Importantly, the Albanians have not yet earned a spot for a World Cup, though they featured at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, failing to reach the last 16 on each times.

While Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid campaigns, with each failing to win a qualifying match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Swiss ended the six-game qualifiers three points ahead of the Kosovans, whose single defeat came at the hands of the group winners.

Kosovo include ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic top scorer – in a team targeting a maiden international competition appearance.

They have not yet played the Welsh team.

Bosnia-Herzegovina lost just once in the qualifiers, and earned a point additional than Wales achieved in their eight games, but still finished two points adrift of Group H winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from securing a place at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians ensured the pair tied in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.

The Welsh have failed to beat the Bosnian side in four matches but experienced a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

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

The 39-year-old was his team's top scorer in qualifying with five goals.

Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.

Having taken only a single point from their opening three qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed 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 triple – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to take runner-up place in their group in thrilling fashion.

Key player Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his side's revival while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one position his to keep.

Ireland are without a win in their past 4 meetings with Wales, losing 3 of those, although James McClean broke the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.