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Wales' focus are squarely on the upcoming World Cup playoff fixture as they prepare for learning their semifinal and potential final challengers.

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

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

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

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mentality is 'give us anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw commented.

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

"It's one of those, indeed, we'll take Kosovo or the Bosnians and Albania are competitive and Ireland, of course, they are a strong team so they'll be tough.

"But you just feel that we're prepared for anyone at the moment and it doesn't matter, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semifinal Opponents Evaluated

Wales sit 34th in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and Kosovo eighty-fourth.

Albania had a solid qualifying campaign, with their sole defeats coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured maximum points without conceding a single goal.

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

Notably, the Albanians have not yet earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, though they featured at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, not managing to advance to the knockout stages on each times.

While Slovenia and Sweden had difficult campaigns, with both failing to win a qualifying match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland ended the six-game campaign three points ahead of the Kosovans, whose one defeat was at the hands of the pool winners.

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

They have not yet faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia lost only one time in qualifying, and earned a points additional than the Welsh managed in their eight games, but nonetheless finished 2 points behind of their group winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from clinching a place at the World Cup, 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 pool.

Wales have failed to defeat the Bosnian side in 4 matches but experienced a unforgettable defeat against Zmajevi as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite losing.

As his country's all-time top goalscorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's key player.

The 39-year-old was his team's leading goalscorer in qualifying with 5 goals.

Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.

Having secured just one point from their first three matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the play-offs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

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

Talisman Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his side's revival while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting jersey his to keep.

The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their last 4 meetings with Wales, defeated in 3 of those, though James McClean broke the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.