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Wales' focus are squarely on the upcoming World Cup playoff fixture as they await learning their semi-final and potential final opponents.

After ended second in their qualification pool following a dominant 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – the side will play the semi-final encounter on home soil.

They will face either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.

Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw thinks the Welsh squad 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 mindset is 'bring on anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw commented.

"Many people were asking recently, 'should we actually want Republic of Ireland as it's that derby feel?'. I think many people were hesitant. But personally, that would be incredible.

"So it's one of those, yes, we're ready for the Kosovans or Bosnia and Albania are decent and Ireland, naturally, they're a strong team so it will be tough.

"However you just feel that we're prepared for anybody at the moment and it doesn't matter, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Possible Play-off Semi-final Rivals Assessed

Wales sit thirty-fourth in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team 61st, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and Kosovo eighty-fourth.

Albania enjoyed a solid qualification run, with their only defeats coming at the hands of their group winners England, who claimed full points without conceding a solitary goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's recognizable names, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their goal chart in qualifying with 3 goals.

Notably, the Albanians have not yet qualified for a World Cup, although they featured at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, failing to advance to the knockout stages on each times.

As Slovenia and Sweden had poor campaigns, with both not managing to win a qualification match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Swiss ended the six-game campaign 3 points clear of the Kosovans, whose single defeat was at the hands of the group winners.

The Kosovan squad include ex- Manchester City goalkeeper 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 Wales.

Bosnia-Herzegovina lost only one time in the qualifiers, and claimed a points more than the Welsh managed in their eight games, but nonetheless ended two points behind of their group winners Austria.

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

Wales have failed to defeat the Bosnians in 4 matches but experienced a memorable defeat against Zmajevi as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

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

The veteran was his squad's top scorer in qualifying with five goals.

And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.

Having taken just one point from their opening three matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the play-offs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to secure runner-up place in their group in thrilling fashion.

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

The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their past four meetings with Wales, defeated in 3 of those, although James McClean broke the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.