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Wales' focus are squarely on Thursday's World Cup playoff fixture as they prepare for learning their semifinal and possible final challengers.

Having ended second in their qualification pool thanks to a commanding 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – Wales will host the semi-final match on home soil.

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

Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw thinks the Dragons will relish a tie against whichever team following their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

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

"A lot of supporters were wondering recently, 'should we actually want Ireland as it's that derby feel?'. I think many supporters were hesitant. But for me, that would be incredible.

"It's one of those, yes, we'll take Kosovo or the Bosnians and the Albanians are competitive and Republic of Ireland, of course, they're a capable team so it will be challenging.

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

Possible Play-off Semi-final Opponents Evaluated

The Welsh squad are placed thirty-fourth in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia 75th and the Kosovan side 84th.

Albania enjoyed a solid qualifying campaign, with their sole losses coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed maximum points without allowing a solitary goal.

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

Importantly, Albania have never qualified for a FIFA World Cup, although they featured at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, not managing to reach the knockout stages on each occasions.

While Slovenia and Sweden had poor campaigns, with each failing to win a qualification match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland ended the six-game qualifiers 3 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 historic leading goalscorer – in a squad targeting a maiden major tournament appearance.

They have never faced Wales.

Bosnia-Herzegovina lost only one time in the qualifiers, and earned a point more than Wales managed in their eight games, but nonetheless ended two points behind of Group H winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from clinching a place at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the pair tied in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the pool.

Wales have not managed to beat the Bosnians in 4 attempts but experienced a unforgettable loss against the Dragons as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite losing.

As his nation's all-time top goalscorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's standout player.

The veteran was his team's leading goalscorer in qualifying with five goals.

Lastly, we have Ireland.

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

Troy Parrott netted both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a hat-trick – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to take runner-up spot in Group F in thrilling fashion.

Key player Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his side's resurgence while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one jersey his own.

The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their last four meetings with the Welsh, defeated in 3 of these, although James McClean broke the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.