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Wales' attention are firmly on Thursday's World Cup play-off fixture as they await discovering their semi-final and possible final challengers.

After ended second in their qualification group following a dominant 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – Wales will host the semifinal encounter on their own turf.

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

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Dragons will embrace a tie against whichever opponent following their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mindset is 'bring on anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw said.

"Many supporters were asking last night, 'do we actually want Ireland as it's that local atmosphere?'. In my view many supporters were hesitant. But for me, that would be incredible.

"It's one of those, yes, we're ready for the Kosovans or Bosnia and the Albanians are not bad and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they are a capable team so it will be tough.

"But you just feel that we're prepared for anybody at the moment and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Potential Playoff Semifinal Rivals Assessed

The Welsh squad are placed thirty-fourth in the world standings, with Albania sixty-first, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and the Kosovan side 84th.

The Albanian national team had a strong qualification campaign, with their sole defeats suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who secured maximum points without conceding a single goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's prominent names, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their scoring tally in the qualifiers with three goals.

It is worth noting, Albania have never earned a spot for a World Cup, although they featured at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, not managing to advance to the last 16 on both times.

While Slovenia and Sweden had torrid runs, with both failing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Switzerland finished the six-game qualifiers 3 points clear of the Kosovans, whose single defeat came at the hands of the group winners.

The Kosovan squad include ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time leading goalscorer – in a squad aiming for a maiden major tournament appearance.

They have not yet faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia lost only one time in qualifying, and claimed a point additional than Wales achieved in their eight games, but nonetheless ended two points behind of Group H winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from clinching a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians ensured the teams drew in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.

Wales have not managed to defeat the Bosnians in 4 matches but did have a memorable defeat against Zmajevi as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite losing.

As his country's all-time top goalscorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's standout player.

The 39-year-old was his squad's top scorer in qualifying with 5 goals.

Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.

After secured just one point from their first three matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the play-offs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a hat-trick – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to secure runner-up place in their group in thrilling style.

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

Ireland are without a win in their past four meetings with the Welsh, defeated in 3 of these, although James McClean broke the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.