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

After ended second in their qualification group thanks to a dominant 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – Wales will play the semifinal encounter on home soil.

They will face either the Albanian side, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo or Ireland in that match on 26 March.

Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw believes the Dragons will relish a tie against any team following their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mentality is 'give us whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw stated.

"Many supporters were saying last night, 'do we really want Republic of Ireland as it's that derby atmosphere?'. I think many supporters didn't. But personally, that would be incredible.

"So it's one of those, indeed, we're ready for the Kosovans or the Bosnians and the Albanians are competitive and Ireland, naturally, they're a capable team so it will be tough.

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

Potential Playoff Semifinal Opponents Evaluated

Wales are placed 34th in the world standings, with Albania sixty-first, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia 75th and the Kosovan side 84th.

Albania had a strong qualification run, with their sole losses coming at the hands of their group winners England, who secured full points without allowing a single goal.

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

Importantly, the Albanians have never earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, although they featured at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, failing to reach the knockout stages on both times.

While Slovenia and Sweden had torrid campaigns, with each not managing to win a qualification match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Swiss ended the six-match qualifiers three points clear of Kosovo, whose one loss was at the hands of the group winners.

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

They have not yet faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated only one time in qualifying, and earned a point additional than the Welsh managed in their eight games, but nonetheless finished 2 points behind of their group winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from clinching a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the pair drew in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.

Wales have not managed to beat the Bosnian side in 4 attempts but experienced a memorable loss against Zmajevi as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after losing.

As his nation's all-time leading scorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's key player.

The veteran was his team's top scorer in the qualifiers with five goals.

Lastly, we have Ireland.

After secured only a single point from their opening 3 qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the playoffs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott netted both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to secure second spot in Group F in thrilling style.

Key player Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his team's resurgence while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting position his own.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their last four meetings with Wales, defeated in 3 of those, though James McClean broke the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.