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Wales' focus are firmly on Thursday's World Cup play-off fixture as they await learning their semifinal and potential final challengers.

After finished second in their qualifying pool following a decisive 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – the side will play the semifinal match on home soil.

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

Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw thinks the Dragons will welcome a match against whichever opponent following their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mindset is 'give us anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw stated.

"Many people were saying last night, 'should we actually want Ireland as it's that derby feel?'. I think many supporters were hesitant. But for me, that would be fantastic.

"It's that type of situation, indeed, we're ready for Kosovo or Bosnia and the Albanians are competitive and Republic of Ireland, of course, they're a strong team so it will be tough.

"However you just feel that we'll take anyone right now and we're confident, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Possible Play-off Semi-final Rivals Assessed

The Welsh squad are placed thirty-fourth in the world standings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia 75th and Kosovo 84th.

The Albanian national team had a solid qualifying campaign, with their only losses coming at the hands of their group winners England, who claimed maximum points without conceding a single goal.

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

Notably, the Albanians have not yet earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, although they featured at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, not managing to reach the knockout stages on each times.

While Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid campaigns, with each failing to win a qualifying 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 came at the hands of the group winners.

Kosovo feature former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic top scorer – in a team targeting a maiden international competition appearance.

They have not yet played the Welsh team.

Bosnia lost just once in the qualifiers, and claimed a points additional than the Welsh achieved in their 8 games, but nonetheless ended 2 points adrift of their group winners Austria.

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

Wales have not managed to beat the Bosnians in 4 attempts but experienced a memorable loss against the Dragons as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after losing.

As his nation's historic top goalscorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player.

The veteran was his team's top scorer in the qualifiers with five goals.

And finally, we have Ireland.

Having secured only a single point from their opening 3 qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged 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 bagging a hat-trick – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to take runner-up place in Group F in dramatic style.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his side's revival while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one position his own.

Ireland are without a win in their past four encounters with Wales, losing 3 of these, though James McClean shattered the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.