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Wales' sights are squarely on the upcoming World Cup play-off fixture as they prepare for learning their semifinal and potential final rivals.

Having ended second in their qualification group thanks to a decisive 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – Wales will play the semifinal match on their own turf.

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

Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw thinks the Welsh squad will embrace a match against any opponent after their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mentality is 'bring on anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw commented.

"A lot of fans were asking last night, 'should we actually want Republic of Ireland as it's that local atmosphere?'. In my view a number of supporters were hesitant. But personally, that could be fantastic.

"It's that type of situation, yes, we're ready for the Kosovans or Bosnia and the Albanians are not bad and Ireland, naturally, they're a very good team so they'll be tough.

"However you just feel that we're prepared for anyone right now and it doesn't matter, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semifinal Opponents Reviewed

The Welsh squad sit 34th in the world standings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.

Albania enjoyed a solid qualifying run, with their sole defeats coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed full points without allowing a single goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's prominent players, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their goal tally in qualifying with 3 goals.

Importantly, Albania have not yet earned a spot for a World Cup, though they featured at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, failing to reach the knockout stages on both occasions.

While Slovenia and Sweden had poor runs, with each not managing to win a qualification match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Swiss finished the six-match campaign three points clear of the Kosovans, whose single defeat came at the hands of the group winners.

Kosovo include ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time leading goalscorer – in a squad aiming for a first international competition appearance.

They have never played the Welsh team.

Bosnia-Herzegovina lost only one time in the qualifiers, and claimed a points more than Wales managed in their eight games, but still finished 2 points adrift of Group H winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from clinching a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians ensured the pair drew in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.

Wales have failed to defeat the Bosnian side in four matches but experienced a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after losing.

As his country's historic top goalscorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's key player.

The 39-year-old was his squad's top scorer in qualifying with 5 goals.

Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.

After secured only a single point from their first 3 qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the playoffs 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 hat-trick – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to secure runner-up place in their group in thrilling style.

Key player Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his team's resurgence while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting jersey his own.

The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their last 4 meetings with the Welsh, defeated in three of these, though James McClean broke the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.