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Wales' focus are squarely on Thursday's World Cup playoff fixture as they await learning their semifinal and potential final opponents.

Having finished second in their qualifying group thanks to a dominant 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – the side will play the semifinal match on home soil.

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

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw believes the Dragons will relish a match against any opponent following their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mindset is 'give us whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw said.

"A lot of supporters were asking last night, 'should we actually want Ireland because of that local atmosphere?'. In my view a number of people were hesitant. But for me, that would be fantastic.

"It's one of those, indeed, we're ready for Kosovo or Bosnia and Albania are decent and Republic of Ireland, of course, they're a very good team so it will be tough.

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

Potential Playoff Semi-final Rivals Evaluated

The Welsh squad sit thirty-fourth in the world rankings, with Albania sixty-first, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.

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

The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's more notable players, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their goal tally in qualifying with three goals.

It is worth noting, Albania have not yet earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, though they featured at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, not managing to reach the knockout stages on each times.

As Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid runs, with both failing to win a qualification match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland ended the six-game qualifiers 3 points clear of the Kosovans, whose one defeat came at the hands of the group winners.

Kosovo feature ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time top scorer – in a team aiming for a maiden international competition appearance.

They have never faced Wales.

Bosnia were defeated only one time in qualifying, and earned a points additional than the Welsh achieved in their 8 games, but still ended 2 points adrift of Group H winners Austria.

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

The Welsh have not managed to defeat the Bosnians in four matches but experienced a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

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

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

Lastly, we have Ireland.

After taken only a single point from their first three qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the play-offs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to take second spot in their group in thrilling style.

Key player Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his side's resurgence while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one position his own.

The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their last four encounters with Wales, defeated in three of these, although James McClean broke the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.