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Wales' focus are squarely on Thursday's World Cup playoff draw as they prepare for learning their semi-final and potential final challengers.

Having finished second in their qualification group following a decisive 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – the side will host the semifinal encounter on their own turf.

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

Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw thinks the Welsh squad will relish a match against any opponent following their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

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

"A lot of fans were asking recently, 'do we really want Republic of Ireland because of that derby feel?'. In my view many people didn't. But for me, that could be amazing.

"So it's one of those, indeed, we'll take the Kosovans or the Bosnians and Albania are competitive and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they are a capable team so they'll be difficult.

"But you just feel that we'll take anybody right now and we're confident, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Possible Play-off Semi-final Rivals Evaluated

The Welsh squad are placed 34th in the world rankings, with Albania sixty-first, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia 75th and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.

Albania enjoyed a impressive qualification campaign, with their sole defeats coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured maximum points without allowing a solitary goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's more notable names, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their goal chart in the qualifiers with three goals.

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

As Slovenia and Sweden had poor campaigns, with both failing to win a qualification match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Swiss ended the six-game campaign 3 points clear of Kosovo, whose single defeat was at the hands of the group winners.

Kosovo feature ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time leading goalscorer – in a team targeting a first major tournament appearance.

They have never faced Wales.

Bosnia were defeated only one time in the qualifiers, and claimed a point additional than Wales managed in their eight games, but nonetheless finished two points behind of their group winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from securing a spot 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 failed to beat the Bosnian side in four attempts but experienced a unforgettable defeat against the Dragons as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

Being his nation's all-time leading scorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's standout player.

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

And finally, we have Ireland.

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

Troy Parrott scored the two goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to take second place in their group in dramatic fashion.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his side's resurgence while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting jersey his to keep.

Ireland are without a win in their past four meetings with Wales, losing 3 of those, though James McClean shattered the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.