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Wales' attention are firmly on the upcoming World Cup play-off fixture as they prepare for discovering their semi-final and potential final rivals.

After finished second in their qualification group following a commanding 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – Wales will host the semi-final encounter on home soil.

They will meet either the Albanian side, Bosnia, Kosovo or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.

Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw thinks the Dragons will welcome a match against whichever opponent following their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mindset is 'give us whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw commented.

"A lot of fans were asking last night, 'do we really want Ireland because of that derby feel?'. I think many people were hesitant. But for me, that could be fantastic.

"So it's that type of situation, indeed, we're ready for the Kosovans or Bosnia and Albania are not bad and Ireland, of course, they are a very good team so they'll be challenging.

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

Potential Play-off Semifinal Opponents Reviewed

Wales sit thirty-fourth in the FIFA standings, with Albania 61st, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.

Albania had a impressive qualification run, with their only defeats coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed full points without allowing a solitary goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's more notable names, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their scoring tally in the qualifiers with three goals.

It is worth noting, Albania have never earned a spot for a World Cup, though they participated at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, failing to advance to the last 16 on each occasions.

While Slovenia and Sweden had difficult campaigns, with both failing to win a qualification match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Swiss finished the six-game campaign three points clear of the Kosovans, whose single loss was at the hands of the pool winners.

Kosovo include ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time leading goalscorer – in a team aiming for a maiden major tournament appearance.

They have never faced Wales.

Bosnia were defeated just once in the qualifiers, and earned a points more than Wales achieved in their eight games, but still ended 2 points adrift of Group H 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 last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.

Wales have failed to beat the Bosnian side in four attempts but experienced a memorable loss against the Dragons as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

Being his nation's all-time leading scorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's star player.

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

Lastly, we have Ireland.

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

Troy Parrott netted both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a hat-trick – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to secure runner-up spot in their group in dramatic style.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his side's resurgence while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting position his own.

Ireland are winless in their past four encounters with Wales, losing three of those, although James McClean shattered the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.