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Wales' sights are firmly on the upcoming World Cup playoff fixture as they prepare for learning their semi-final and possible final rivals.

Having finished as runners-up in their qualifying group following a dominant 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – Wales will play the semi-final match on their own turf.

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

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will relish a tie against any team following their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.

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

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

"So it's that type of situation, yes, we're ready for Kosovo or the Bosnians and Albania are decent and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they are a strong team so it will be challenging.

"However the sense is that we're prepared for anybody at the moment and it doesn't matter, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Possible Play-off Semi-final Rivals Reviewed

The Welsh squad are placed 34th in the FIFA standings, with Albania sixty-first, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and Kosovo 84th.

Albania had a solid qualification campaign, with their sole defeats coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured full points without allowing a single goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's more notable names, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their scoring tally in qualifying with three goals.

Notably, Albania have never qualified for a FIFA World Cup, although they featured at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, failing to advance to the knockout stages on each occasions.

As Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid runs, with both failing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Swiss ended the six-game campaign 3 points ahead of Kosovo, whose one loss came at the hands of the group winners.

The Kosovan squad include ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time top scorer – in a squad targeting a maiden major tournament appearance.

They have not yet played the Welsh team.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated just once in qualifying, and claimed a points more than Wales achieved in their eight games, but still finished 2 points adrift of their group winners Austria.

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

The Welsh have failed to defeat the Bosnians in four matches but experienced a unforgettable loss against the Dragons as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite losing.

Being his nation's historic top goalscorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's standout player.

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

And finally, we have Ireland.

After taken only a single point from their first three qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the play-offs 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 triple – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to secure second place in Group F in dramatic fashion.

Key player Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his team's revival while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting position his to keep.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their last 4 encounters with the Welsh, defeated in three of these, though James McClean broke the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.