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Wales' attention are squarely on the upcoming World Cup play-off fixture as they prepare for discovering their semi-final and possible final opponents.

After ended second in their qualification pool following a dominant 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – the side will play the semi-final encounter on their own turf.

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

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Dragons will embrace a tie against any opponent following their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.

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

"Many supporters were asking recently, 'do we really want Republic of Ireland as it's that local atmosphere?'. In my view many supporters were hesitant. But for me, that would be incredible.

"So it's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take the Kosovans or Bosnia and Albania are decent and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they are a capable team so it will be challenging.

"But the sense is that we're prepared for anyone at the moment and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Potential Playoff Semifinal Rivals Evaluated

The Welsh squad sit 34th in the world standings, with Albania 61st, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia 75th and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.

Albania enjoyed a strong qualifying campaign, with their sole defeats suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who secured full points without conceding a solitary goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's prominent names, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their scoring tally in qualifying with three goals.

Importantly, Albania have not yet qualified for a World Cup, though they participated at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, failing to reach the last 16 on each occasions.

While Slovenia and Sweden endured difficult campaigns, with both failing to win a qualification match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Swiss ended the six-match qualifiers 3 points clear of the Kosovans, whose single loss was at the hands of the pool winners.

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

They have not yet faced Wales.

Bosnia were defeated only one time in qualifying, and claimed a points more than Wales managed in their 8 games, but still ended 2 points adrift of Group H winners Austria.

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

The Welsh have not managed to beat the Bosnian side in 4 matches but did have a unforgettable defeat against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 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's standout player.

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

And finally, we have Ireland.

Having taken only a single point from their opening 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the play-offs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored the two goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to secure second spot in Group F in dramatic fashion.

Talisman Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his team's revival while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one jersey his own.

The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their past 4 encounters with Wales, losing three of those, though James McClean shattered the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.