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

Having ended second in their qualification pool thanks to a decisive 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – Wales will host the semifinal match on their own turf.

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

Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw believes the Dragons will embrace a match against any team following their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mentality is 'give us anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw said.

"A lot of supporters were asking last night, 'should we actually want Ireland because of that local atmosphere?'. I think a number of supporters were hesitant. But personally, that could be incredible.

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

"However the sense is that we're prepared for anybody at the moment and we're confident, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Potential Play-off Semifinal Opponents Assessed

Wales sit 34th in the world standings, with Albania 61st, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia 75th and the Kosovan side 84th.

Albania had a solid qualification campaign, with their only losses coming at the hands of their group winners England, who secured maximum points without conceding a single goal.

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

It is worth noting, the Albanians have not yet qualified for a FIFA World Cup, although they participated at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, not managing to advance to the last 16 on both times.

As Slovenia and Sweden had poor runs, with both failing to win a qualification match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Swiss finished the six-match campaign three points ahead of the Kosovans, whose single defeat came at the hands of the pool winners.

Kosovo feature ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic top scorer – in a squad aiming for a maiden international competition appearance.

They have not yet played the Welsh team.

Bosnia-Herzegovina lost only one time in the qualifiers, and earned a point additional than the Welsh achieved in their 8 games, but still finished two points behind of their group winners Austria.

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

The Welsh have failed to defeat the Bosnians in 4 attempts but did have a memorable loss against the Dragons as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after losing.

Being his nation's all-time leading scorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player.

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

And finally, we have Ireland.

After secured only a single point from their opening 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 triple – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to secure second spot in their group in thrilling style.

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

Ireland are without a win in their last 4 encounters with the Welsh, defeated in 3 of these, although James McClean broke the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.