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

Having ended as runners-up in their qualification group following a decisive 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – the side will host the semi-final match on home soil.

They will meet either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo or Ireland in that match on 26 March.

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw believes the Dragons will relish a tie against whichever opponent after their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his approach is 'bring on whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw stated.

"Many fans were asking last night, 'do we actually want Republic of Ireland as it's that derby feel?'. In my view a number of people were hesitant. But for me, that could be fantastic.

"It's one of those, yes, we're ready for the Kosovans or Bosnia and the Albanians are decent and Ireland, naturally, they are a strong team so it will be difficult.

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

Possible Play-off Semifinal Opponents Evaluated

The Welsh squad sit thirty-fourth in the FIFA standings, with Albania sixty-first, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and Kosovo eighty-fourth.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a solid qualification run, with their only losses coming at the hands of their group winners England, who secured full points without allowing a single goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's recognizable players, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their goal chart in the qualifiers with three goals.

Notably, the Albanians have never qualified for a World Cup, though they featured at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, not managing to advance to the last 16 on each occasions.

While Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid campaigns, with each failing to win a qualifying match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Swiss ended the six-game campaign 3 points ahead of Kosovo, whose single loss was at the hands of the pool winners.

The Kosovan squad feature ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic leading goalscorer – in a squad aiming for a maiden major tournament appearance.

They have not yet played the Welsh team.

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

They were 13 minutes away from securing a place at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians meant the teams tied in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.

The Welsh have not managed to defeat the Bosnian side in 4 matches but did have a memorable loss against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

Being his country's all-time leading scorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's star player.

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

Lastly, we have Ireland.

After taken only a single point from their opening three matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the playoffs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott netted 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 place in Group F in thrilling fashion.

Key player Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his team's resurgence while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting position his own.

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