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Wales' attention are squarely on the upcoming World Cup playoff fixture as they prepare for learning their semifinal and possible final rivals.

Having ended second in their qualifying group thanks to a decisive 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – the side will host the semifinal match on their own turf.

They will meet either the Albanian side, Bosnia, the Kosovan team or Republic of Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw believes the Welsh squad will welcome a match against whichever opponent after their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

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

"Many supporters were saying last night, 'do we actually want Republic of Ireland because of that local feel?'. In my view a number of people didn't. But personally, that would be amazing.

"So it's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take Kosovo or Bosnia and Albania are competitive and Republic of Ireland, of course, they are a capable team so they'll be challenging.

"But you just feel that we're prepared for anybody right now and we're confident, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Potential Playoff Semi-final Opponents Reviewed

Wales are placed 34th in the world standings, with Albania sixty-first, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia 75th and the Kosovan side 84th.

Albania had a impressive qualifying campaign, with their sole defeats suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who claimed maximum points without conceding a single goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's more notable players, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their scoring chart in qualifying with 3 goals.

Notably, Albania have not yet earned a spot for a World Cup, although they participated at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, failing to advance to the last 16 on both times.

While Slovenia and Sweden had poor runs, with both not managing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Switzerland finished the six-game qualifiers 3 points clear of Kosovo, whose one loss was at the hands of the pool winners.

The Kosovan squad include former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time leading goalscorer – in a team aiming for a maiden major tournament appearance.

They have never faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia lost only one time in the qualifiers, and claimed a point additional than Wales achieved in their eight games, but still ended two points adrift of their group winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from securing a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians ensured the pair drew in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.

Wales have not managed to defeat the Bosnian side in four matches but experienced a memorable defeat against Zmajevi as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

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

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

Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.

After secured just one point from their opening 3 qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the playoffs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to take runner-up place in Group F in thrilling fashion.

Talisman Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his side's resurgence while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one position his own.

Ireland are winless in their last 4 meetings with the Welsh, losing 3 of these, 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.