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Wales' sights are squarely on the upcoming World Cup play-off fixture as they prepare for learning their semi-final and possible final challengers.

After finished as runners-up in their qualification pool following a decisive 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – Wales will play the semi-final match on home soil.

They will meet either the Albanian side, Bosnia, Kosovo or Republic of Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.

Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will embrace a match against any opponent after their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

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

"A lot of fans were saying last night, 'do we really want Republic of Ireland as it's that derby feel?'. I think a number of supporters were hesitant. But for me, that could 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, of course, they are a very good team so they'll be difficult.

"However you just feel that we're prepared for anybody at the moment and we're confident, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Possible Play-off Semifinal Rivals Assessed

The Welsh squad are placed 34th in the world standings, with Albania sixty-first, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.

Albania enjoyed a strong qualification campaign, with their only losses suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured maximum points without conceding a solitary goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's more notable names, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their scoring chart in the qualifiers with three goals.

Importantly, the Albanians have not yet earned a spot for a World Cup, though they participated at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, failing to advance to the knockout stages on each times.

As Slovenia and Sweden endured difficult campaigns, with each failing to win a qualification match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland ended the six-game qualifiers three points ahead of the Kosovans, whose one loss came at the hands of the group winners.

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

They have not yet played the Welsh team.

Bosnia-Herzegovina lost only one time in the qualifiers, and claimed a points additional than Wales achieved in their 8 games, but still finished 2 points adrift of Group H winners Austria.

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

The Welsh have not managed to defeat the Bosnian side in four attempts but did have a memorable loss against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

As his country's historic leading scorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's key player.

The veteran was his team's top scorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.

Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.

After secured just one point from their first 3 matches, 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 final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to take runner-up spot in Group F in thrilling fashion.

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

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their last 4 encounters with the Welsh, losing 3 of these, although James McClean broke the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.