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Wales' focus are squarely on Thursday's World Cup play-off draw as they await learning their semi-final and possible final challengers.

After ended as runners-up in their qualification group thanks to a decisive 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – the side will host the semifinal encounter on home soil.

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

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw believes the Welsh squad will relish a tie against whichever team 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, we're ready'," Earnshaw stated.

"Many fans were saying recently, 'do we really want Ireland because of that derby atmosphere?'. I think many people didn't. But personally, that would be fantastic.

"It's that type of situation, indeed, we're ready for Kosovo or Bosnia and the Albanians are decent and Ireland, of course, they're a strong team so they'll be tough.

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

Possible Playoff Semifinal Opponents Assessed

The Welsh squad are placed thirty-fourth in the world standings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and Kosovo eighty-fourth.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a impressive qualifying campaign, with their only defeats suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed full points without conceding a solitary goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's recognizable names, though 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, the Albanians have not yet earned a spot for a World Cup, although they featured at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, failing to advance to the knockout stages on both occasions.

While Slovenia and Sweden had torrid campaigns, with both not managing to win a qualification match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Swiss finished the six-match campaign 3 points ahead of Kosovo, whose single defeat was at the hands of the group winners.

The Kosovan squad include ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time leading goalscorer – in a team targeting a first international competition appearance.

They have not yet played the Welsh team.

Bosnia lost just once in qualifying, and claimed a points additional than the Welsh achieved in their eight games, but nonetheless ended two points behind 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 meant the pair tied in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.

The Welsh have not managed to beat the Bosnian side in 4 matches but did have a memorable defeat against Zmajevi as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

As his nation's historic leading scorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's key player.

The veteran was his team's leading goalscorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.

And finally, we have Ireland.

After secured only a single point from their first 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the playoffs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a hat-trick – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to secure runner-up place in their group in dramatic fashion.

Talisman Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his team's revival while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one position his own.

Ireland are without a win in their past four encounters with Wales, losing three of these, although James McClean shattered the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.