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Wales' sights are squarely on Thursday's World Cup play-off draw as they await discovering their semifinal and potential final opponents.

Having ended as runners-up in their qualification pool following a commanding 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – Wales will play the semi-final match on their own turf.

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

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will embrace a tie against any opponent following their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mindset is 'give us anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw commented.

"Many people were wondering last night, 'do we really want Republic of Ireland as it's that derby atmosphere?'. In my view many people didn't. But personally, that could be amazing.

"It's one of those, indeed, we're ready for Kosovo or the Bosnians and Albania are not bad and Ireland, naturally, they're a strong team so they'll be difficult.

"But you just feel that we're prepared for anyone right now and we're confident, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Potential Playoff Semi-final Opponents Reviewed

The Welsh squad sit 34th in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and the Kosovan side 84th.

Albania had a impressive qualifying run, with their only defeats coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured full points without conceding a solitary goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's recognizable players, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their scoring tally in the qualifiers with three goals.

Importantly, Albania have never qualified for a World Cup, though they participated at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, failing to reach the knockout stages on each occasions.

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

The Switzerland finished the six-match qualifiers three points clear of Kosovo, whose single loss 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 all-time top scorer – in a team targeting a first major tournament appearance.

They have not yet faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated just once in the qualifiers, and claimed a points more 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 place at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians meant the teams drew in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the pool.

The Welsh have not managed to defeat the Bosnian side in four matches but did have 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, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's key player.

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

Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.

Having taken just one point from their opening three matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the playoffs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott netted both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to secure runner-up spot in their group in thrilling style.

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

Ireland are without a win in their past 4 encounters with Wales, defeated in three of these, although James McClean shattered the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.