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Wales' sights are squarely on the upcoming World Cup playoff fixture as they await discovering their semifinal and possible final opponents.

Having finished as runners-up in their qualification group following a commanding 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – Wales will host the semi-final encounter on their own turf.

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

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw thinks the Dragons will welcome a tie against any team following their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mindset is 'bring on whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw stated.

"A lot of fans were saying last night, 'should we really want Ireland because of that local atmosphere?'. I think a number of supporters were hesitant. But personally, that could be amazing.

"So it's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take the Kosovans or the Bosnians and the Albanians are decent and Ireland, of course, they are a very good team so it will be difficult.

"However the sense is that we're prepared for anybody right now and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

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Wales sit 34th in the FIFA standings, with the Albanian team 61st, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia seventy-fifth and Kosovo 84th.

Albania enjoyed a impressive qualifying campaign, with their sole losses coming at the hands of their group winners England, who claimed maximum points without conceding a solitary goal.

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

It is worth noting, Albania have never earned a spot for a World Cup, although they featured at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, not managing to advance to the last 16 on each times.

While Slovenia and Sweden endured difficult runs, with both failing to win a qualifying 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 former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time top scorer – in a squad targeting a maiden international competition appearance.

They have not yet played Wales.

Bosnia lost just once in qualifying, and earned a point additional than Wales achieved in their eight games, but nonetheless finished 2 points behind of Group H winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from clinching a place at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians meant the teams tied in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.

The Welsh have failed to beat the Bosnian side in four attempts but did have a memorable defeat against Zmajevi as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

As his country's historic leading scorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's standout player.

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

Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.

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

Troy Parrott netted both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to take second spot in Group F in thrilling style.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his team's resurgence while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one position his to keep.

Ireland are winless in their last 4 encounters with the Welsh, defeated in three of these, although James McClean broke the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.