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Wales' attention are firmly on the upcoming World Cup playoff fixture as they await discovering their semifinal and possible final challengers.

Having finished as runners-up in their qualification group thanks to a commanding 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – the side will play the semifinal match on home soil.

They will play against either the Albanian side, Bosnia, Kosovo or Ireland in that match on 26 March.

Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will embrace a tie against any opponent after their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mindset is 'give us anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw stated.

"Many supporters were asking last night, 'do we really want Ireland as it's that local feel?'. I think many people were hesitant. But personally, that could be incredible.

"It's that type of situation, indeed, we're ready for Kosovo or the Bosnians and the Albanians are not bad and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they are a very good team so they'll be challenging.

"However you just feel that we'll take anybody right now and we're confident, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Potential Playoff Semi-final Opponents Evaluated

The Welsh squad sit 34th in the FIFA standings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia 75th and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.

Albania had a strong qualifying campaign, with their only losses coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured full points without conceding a solitary goal.

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

Notably, Albania have never earned a spot for a World Cup, although they featured at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, failing to advance to the last 16 on both occasions.

As Slovenia and Sweden had torrid campaigns, with both not managing to win a qualification match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Swiss finished the six-game qualifiers 3 points ahead of Kosovo, 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 historic leading goalscorer – in a team aiming for a maiden international competition appearance.

They have not yet faced Wales.

Bosnia-Herzegovina lost just once in the qualifiers, and earned a point additional than Wales achieved in their eight games, but nonetheless 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 ensured the pair tied in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.

The Welsh have failed to defeat the Bosnian side in 4 matches but experienced a memorable loss against the Dragons as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

As his country's all-time top goalscorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's key player.

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

And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.

After taken just one point from their first 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the playoffs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to take runner-up spot in Group F in dramatic fashion.

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

Ireland are without a win in their last 4 meetings with Wales, defeated in three of these, although James McClean broke the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.