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Wales' focus are firmly on Thursday's World Cup play-off fixture as they await discovering their semifinal and possible final challengers.

Having finished second in their qualifying group following a dominant 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – Wales will play the semi-final match on home soil.

They will play against either Albania, Bosnia, the Kosovan team or Republic of Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.

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

"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his approach is 'bring on whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw stated.

"Many supporters were wondering last night, 'should we actually want Republic of Ireland because of that local feel?'. I think many supporters didn't. But for me, that would be incredible.

"It's one of those, yes, we'll take the Kosovans or Bosnia and the Albanians are not bad and Ireland, naturally, they are a strong team so it will be challenging.

"But the sense is that we're prepared for anybody right now and we're confident, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semifinal Opponents Reviewed

Wales are placed 34th in the FIFA standings, with Albania sixty-first, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia 75th and Kosovo 84th.

The Albanian national team had a strong qualifying campaign, with their sole losses suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured maximum points without conceding a single goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's recognizable players, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their scoring chart in qualifying with 3 goals.

It is worth noting, Albania have not yet earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, although they participated at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, not managing to advance to the last 16 on both occasions.

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

The Switzerland finished the six-game campaign 3 points clear of Kosovo, whose one defeat came at the hands of the pool winners.

Kosovo feature former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time top scorer – in a squad aiming for a first major tournament appearance.

They have not yet played the Welsh team.

Bosnia lost just once in qualifying, and earned a point more than the Welsh managed in their 8 games, but nonetheless finished 2 points adrift of their group winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from clinching a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians ensured the pair drew in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.

The Welsh have not managed to beat the Bosnians in four matches but did have a memorable defeat against Zmajevi as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

Being his country's historic leading scorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's key player.

The veteran was his team's top scorer in qualifying with five goals.

Lastly, we have Ireland.

After secured just one point from their first 3 qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the playoffs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott netted the two goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to take second spot in Group F in dramatic fashion.

Talisman Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his team's resurgence while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one jersey his own.

The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their last 4 encounters with Wales, losing three of these, although James McClean broke the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.