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

After finished as runners-up in their qualifying pool following a commanding 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – the side will host the semifinal encounter on home soil.

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

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw thinks the Welsh squad will welcome a match against whichever team following their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mindset is 'bring on anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw said.

"A lot of fans were wondering last night, 'do we actually want Republic of Ireland because of that derby atmosphere?'. I think many people were hesitant. But for me, that would be amazing.

"So it's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take the Kosovans or Bosnia and the Albanians are competitive and Ireland, of course, they're a strong team so they'll be difficult.

"However the sense is that we'll take anybody right now and we're confident, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semifinal Rivals Assessed

The Welsh squad sit 34th in the world standings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and Kosovo 84th.

The Albanian national team had a strong qualification run, with their only defeats suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed full points without allowing a single goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's recognizable names, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their scoring tally in qualifying with three goals.

Notably, Albania have not yet qualified for a World Cup, though they participated at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, not managing to reach the last 16 on both times.

While Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid campaigns, with each failing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland finished the six-match qualifiers three points clear of the Kosovans, whose one loss was at the hands of the group winners.

Kosovo include former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic leading goalscorer – in a team aiming for a maiden major tournament appearance.

They have not yet played the Welsh team.

Bosnia-Herzegovina lost just once in qualifying, and earned a point more than Wales managed in their 8 games, but still ended two points adrift of their group winners Austria.

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

Wales have failed to defeat the Bosnians in four matches but did have a unforgettable loss against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite losing.

Being his nation's all-time top goalscorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's key player.

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

And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.

Having secured only a single point from their first three qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the playoffs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott netted both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to secure runner-up place in Group F 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 position his to keep.

The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their past 4 meetings with Wales, losing 3 of those, though James McClean shattered the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.