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

After finished as runners-up in their qualifying group following a commanding 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – Wales will play the semifinal match on home soil.

They will play against either Albania, Bosnia, the Kosovan team or Republic of Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw thinks the Dragons will welcome a match against any team following their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his approach is 'bring on whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw said.

"A lot of fans were saying recently, 'do we actually want Ireland as it's that derby atmosphere?'. I think a number of supporters didn't. But personally, that could be amazing.

"It's one of those, indeed, we're ready for the Kosovans or Bosnia and Albania are decent and Ireland, naturally, they're a capable team so they'll be difficult.

"But you just feel that we'll take anybody right now and it doesn't matter, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semi-final Rivals Assessed

The Welsh squad are placed thirty-fourth in the world rankings, with Albania 61st, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a strong qualification campaign, with their only losses coming at the hands of their group winners England, who claimed full points without allowing a solitary goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's recognizable names, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their goal tally in qualifying with 3 goals.

Importantly, the Albanians have not yet earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, although they featured at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, not managing to advance to the knockout stages on both times.

While Slovenia and Sweden endured difficult runs, with each failing to win a qualification match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.

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

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

They have never faced Wales.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated only one time in qualifying, and earned a points more than Wales managed in their 8 games, but nonetheless ended 2 points behind of Group H winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from clinching a place at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians ensured the teams drew in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.

The Welsh have failed to beat the Bosnian side in four attempts but did have a unforgettable loss against Zmajevi as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

As his country's historic leading scorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's key player.

The veteran was his team's leading goalscorer in qualifying with five goals.

And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.

After taken just one point from their first 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged 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 hat-trick – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to take second spot in Group F in dramatic fashion.

Key player Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his team's revival while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting position his to keep.

The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their past four encounters with the Welsh, defeated in three of those, although 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.