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Wales' attention are squarely on Thursday's World Cup playoff fixture as they prepare for discovering their semifinal and possible final rivals.

After finished second in their qualification group following a dominant 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – the side will play the semi-final match on their own turf.

They will meet either the Albanian side, Bosnia, the Kosovan team or Republic of Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw believes the Dragons will welcome a tie 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.

"A lot of supporters were saying recently, 'should we really want Ireland because of that local feel?'. I think a number of people didn't. But personally, that could be fantastic.

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

"However you just feel that we'll take anybody at the moment and we're confident, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Possible Play-off Semifinal Rivals Assessed

The Welsh squad are placed thirty-fourth in the FIFA rankings, with Albania sixty-first, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.

Albania had a impressive qualifying campaign, with their sole losses suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured maximum points without conceding a solitary goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's more notable names, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their scoring tally in the qualifiers with three goals.

Importantly, the Albanians have never earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, though they featured at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, failing to advance to the last 16 on both occasions.

As Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid campaigns, with both failing to win a qualifying match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Switzerland ended the six-game campaign 3 points clear of Kosovo, whose single defeat was at the hands of the pool winners.

Kosovo feature former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic leading goalscorer – in a team targeting a maiden international competition appearance.

They have never faced the Welsh team.

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

They were 13 minutes away from clinching a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians meant the pair drew in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the pool.

The Welsh have failed to defeat the Bosnians in four attempts but did have a memorable defeat against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite losing.

As his nation's historic top goalscorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's key player.

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

And finally, we have Ireland.

After taken just one point from their first 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the playoffs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to take second spot in Group F in thrilling style.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his side's revival while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one position his to keep.

Ireland are without a win in their last four encounters with Wales, losing three of these, though James McClean broke the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.