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

After ended second in their qualification pool following a dominant 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – Wales will play the semi-final encounter on their own turf.

They will play against either the Albanian side, Bosnia, the Kosovan team or Republic of Ireland in that match on 26 March.

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw believes the Dragons will welcome a tie against whichever team following their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

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

"A lot of fans were saying last night, 'should we really want Republic of Ireland as it's that local atmosphere?'. I think many supporters didn't. But for me, that could be fantastic.

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

"However the sense is that we're prepared for anyone at the moment and we're confident, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Potential Play-off Semifinal Rivals Evaluated

Wales are placed thirty-fourth in the world standings, with Albania 61st, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and the Kosovan side 84th.

The Albanian national team had a solid qualification run, with their only defeats suffered at the hands of their group 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 Red and Blacks's more notable names, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their scoring tally in the qualifiers with three goals.

Notably, the Albanians have not yet earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, although they participated at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, not managing to reach the knockout stages on each occasions.

As Slovenia and Sweden endured poor runs, with each not managing to win a qualification match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland finished the six-match qualifiers 3 points ahead of Kosovo, whose single loss was at the hands of the group winners.

The Kosovan squad feature ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic top scorer – in a squad targeting a first international competition appearance.

They have never played the Welsh team.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated only one time in qualifying, and earned a points additional than Wales managed in their eight games, but still finished two points adrift of Group H winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from securing a place at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians ensured the pair tied in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.

The Welsh have not managed to defeat the Bosnians in four matches but did have a memorable defeat against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

Being his country's historic leading scorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's star player.

The veteran was his team's leading goalscorer in qualifying with 5 goals.

And finally, we have Ireland.

After secured only a single 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 netted the two goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to take runner-up spot in their group in dramatic fashion.

Talisman Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his side's revival while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one position his to keep.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their last four meetings with the Welsh, losing 3 of these, though James McClean broke the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.