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

Having ended second in their qualifying pool following a dominant 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – the side will play the semifinal match on home soil.

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

Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw thinks the Dragons will relish a tie against any team 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 stated.

"Many fans were asking recently, 'do we really want Ireland as it's that local feel?'. I think many people didn't. But personally, that would be amazing.

"It's one of those, indeed, we'll take the Kosovans or the Bosnians and the Albanians are competitive and Ireland, of course, they are a very good team so it will be tough.

"However 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."

Possible Play-off Semi-final Opponents Assessed

Wales sit 34th in the FIFA standings, with Albania sixty-first, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and the Kosovan side 84th.

The Albanian national team had a strong qualification run, with their sole defeats suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured full points without allowing a single goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's more notable players, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their goal chart in the qualifiers with three goals.

It is worth noting, Albania have never earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, though they featured at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, not managing to advance to the last 16 on each occasions.

While Slovenia and Sweden endured difficult campaigns, with both not managing to win a qualification match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland finished the six-game campaign 3 points ahead of the Kosovans, whose single defeat was at the hands of the pool winners.

Kosovo feature ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time leading goalscorer – in a squad aiming for a maiden international competition appearance.

They have never faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia were defeated only one time in qualifying, and earned a points additional than the Welsh achieved in their eight games, but nonetheless ended two points adrift of their group winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from securing a place at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the teams tied in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.

Wales have not managed to defeat the Bosnians in four matches but did have a unforgettable defeat against the Dragons as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

As his country's all-time leading scorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's star player.

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

And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.

Having secured just one point from their first 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the playoffs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott netted both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to secure second spot in Group F in thrilling style.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his team's resurgence while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one jersey his to keep.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their last 4 meetings with Wales, losing three of these, though James McClean shattered the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.