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Wales' attention are firmly on Thursday's World Cup playoff fixture as they prepare for learning their semi-final and possible final rivals.

After finished second in their qualifying group following a dominant 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – the side will host the semi-final match on home soil.

They will play against either the Albanian side, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.

Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw believes the Welsh squad will welcome a match against whichever opponent after their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mindset is 'bring on whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw stated.

"Many supporters were saying last night, 'do we really want Ireland because of that local feel?'. I think a number of people were hesitant. But for me, that could be fantastic.

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

"But you just feel that we'll take anybody at the moment and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Potential Play-off Semi-final Opponents Evaluated

Wales are placed 34th in the FIFA rankings, with Albania 61st, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia 75th and the Kosovan side 84th.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a solid qualifying campaign, with their only losses suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who secured full points without conceding a solitary goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's more notable players, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their scoring chart in the qualifiers with 3 goals.

Notably, the Albanians have not yet qualified for a FIFA World Cup, though they participated at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, not managing to advance to the last 16 on each occasions.

As Slovenia and Sweden endured difficult campaigns, with both not managing to win a qualification match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Swiss ended the six-match qualifiers 3 points ahead of Kosovo, whose single defeat was at the hands of the pool winners.

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

They have not yet faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia were defeated only one time in qualifying, and claimed a points additional than the Welsh achieved in their eight games, but still ended two points adrift of Group H winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from clinching a place at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians ensured the teams tied in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.

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

Being his country's all-time top goalscorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player.

The 39-year-old was his team's top scorer in qualifying with five goals.

Lastly, we have Ireland.

After 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 Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a hat-trick – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to secure runner-up place in Group F in dramatic fashion.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his side's resurgence while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one position his own.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their past four meetings with the Welsh, defeated in 3 of these, although James McClean shattered the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.