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Wales' sights are firmly on Thursday's World Cup playoff fixture as they await discovering their semifinal and potential final challengers.

Having finished as runners-up in their qualifying pool thanks to a dominant 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – Wales will host the semifinal match on their own turf.

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

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw believes the Dragons will embrace a tie against any team after their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mindset is 'bring on whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw stated.

"Many people were asking last night, 'do we actually want Republic of Ireland because of that derby atmosphere?'. In my view a number of supporters didn't. But for me, that would be amazing.

"So it's one of those, yes, we'll take the Kosovans or Bosnia and the Albanians are decent and Ireland, naturally, they're a capable team so it will be challenging.

"However the sense is that we're prepared for anyone right now and we're confident, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Possible Play-off Semi-final Opponents Evaluated

Wales sit thirty-fourth in the FIFA standings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and Kosovo 84th.

Albania enjoyed a impressive qualifying campaign, with their only defeats coming at the hands of their group winners England, who secured maximum points without allowing a solitary goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's recognizable names, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their scoring tally in the qualifiers with 3 goals.

Importantly, Albania have never qualified for a World Cup, although they featured at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, failing to reach the knockout stages on each times.

As Slovenia and Sweden had torrid campaigns, with each failing to win a qualifying match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Swiss finished the six-game qualifiers three points ahead of Kosovo, whose single loss came at the hands of the group winners.

The Kosovan squad feature ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time leading goalscorer – in a team targeting a maiden international competition appearance.

They have never played Wales.

Bosnia-Herzegovina lost only one time in the qualifiers, and earned a points additional than Wales achieved in their eight games, but nonetheless finished two points adrift of Group H winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from securing a place at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians ensured the pair tied in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.

The Welsh have not managed to defeat the Bosnians in 4 attempts but did have a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite losing.

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

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

And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.

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

Troy Parrott netted both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a hat-trick – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to take second spot in Group F in dramatic style.

Key player Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his team's revival while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one position his own.

The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their past 4 encounters with Wales, defeated in 3 of those, though James McClean broke the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.