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

Having ended as runners-up in their qualifying group thanks to a decisive 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – Wales will play the semifinal match on their own turf.

They will play against either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Kosovan team or Republic of Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw believes the Welsh squad will relish a match against whichever team after their most recent 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 commented.

"Many people were wondering recently, 'do we really want Republic of Ireland because of that derby atmosphere?'. In my view many supporters were hesitant. But personally, that would be amazing.

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

"However you just feel that we're prepared for anybody at the moment and we're confident, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

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Wales sit thirty-fourth in the world rankings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia seventy-fifth and Kosovo eighty-fourth.

Albania had a strong qualifying run, with their only losses suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who secured maximum points without allowing a solitary goal.

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

It is worth noting, Albania have never earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, though they featured at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, failing to advance to the knockout stages on each times.

While Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid runs, with both not managing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland ended the six-game campaign three points ahead of Kosovo, whose one loss came at the hands of the pool winners.

Kosovo include former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time leading goalscorer – in a squad targeting a first international competition appearance.

They have not yet faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia-Herzegovina lost just once in the qualifiers, and earned a point additional than Wales managed in their 8 games, but nonetheless ended 2 points behind of Group H winners Austria.

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

The Welsh have failed to defeat the Bosnian side in four matches but did have a unforgettable defeat against the Dragons as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

Being his nation's all-time top goalscorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's standout player.

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

And finally, we have Ireland.

Having secured only a single point from their first 3 qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the play-offs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to secure second place in Group F in dramatic style.

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

Ireland are winless in their past four encounters with the Welsh, losing three of those, although James McClean broke the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.