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Wales' attention are squarely on Thursday's World Cup play-off fixture as they await discovering their semifinal and potential final rivals.

Having finished as runners-up in their qualification pool following a dominant 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – Wales will host the semi-final encounter on their own turf.

They will play against either the Albanian side, Bosnia, Kosovo or Republic of Ireland in that match on 26 March.

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Dragons will welcome a match against any opponent after their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mentality is 'bring on anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw commented.

"Many fans were wondering last night, 'should we actually want Ireland because of that local atmosphere?'. In my view a number of supporters were hesitant. But personally, that could be amazing.

"It's one of those, yes, we'll take Kosovo or Bosnia and Albania are competitive and Ireland, of course, they're a very good team so they'll be tough.

"But the sense is that we're prepared for anybody right now and it doesn't matter, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semifinal Rivals Reviewed

Wales sit 34th in the FIFA rankings, with Albania 61st, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and Kosovo eighty-fourth.

Albania had a impressive qualifying run, with their sole defeats coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed full points without allowing a solitary goal.

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

Notably, the Albanians have never qualified for a FIFA World Cup, though they participated at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, not managing to advance to the knockout stages on both occasions.

While Slovenia and Sweden endured poor runs, with both failing to win a qualification match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland ended the six-match campaign three points ahead of Kosovo, whose one defeat was at the hands of the group winners.

The Kosovan squad feature former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic leading goalscorer – in a team aiming for a maiden major tournament appearance.

They have not yet played Wales.

Bosnia lost just once in qualifying, and earned a point additional than Wales managed in their eight games, but still ended two points adrift of Group H winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from securing a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the teams drew in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the pool.

The Welsh have failed to beat the Bosnian side in four attempts but did have a unforgettable loss 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, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's key player.

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

Lastly, we have Ireland.

After secured just one point from their opening 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the play-offs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to secure runner-up spot in Group F in dramatic fashion.

Talisman Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his team's resurgence while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one jersey his own.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their past four encounters with Wales, defeated in three of those, although James McClean broke the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.