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Wales' attention are squarely on Thursday's World Cup playoff draw as they prepare for learning their semifinal and possible final challengers.

Having finished as runners-up in their qualification group following a dominant 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – Wales will host the semi-final match on their own turf.

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

Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw thinks the Welsh squad will welcome a tie against whichever opponent following their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his approach is 'give us anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw stated.

"A lot of fans were saying last night, 'do we really want Ireland as it's that local atmosphere?'. I think a number of people didn't. But personally, that could be fantastic.

"So it's one of those, indeed, we're ready for the Kosovans or the Bosnians and Albania are not bad and Republic of Ireland, of course, they are a strong team so they'll be challenging.

"However the sense is that we're prepared for anybody right now and it doesn't matter, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semi-final Opponents Reviewed

The Welsh squad are placed thirty-fourth in the FIFA standings, with Albania sixty-first, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and Kosovo 84th.

Albania had a solid qualifying run, with their only losses suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who secured full points without conceding a solitary goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's prominent names, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their goal tally in qualifying with 3 goals.

It is worth noting, Albania have never qualified for a World Cup, although they featured at Euro 2016 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 qualifying match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Swiss ended the six-game qualifiers 3 points clear of Kosovo, whose one loss came at the hands of the pool winners.

Kosovo feature former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time top scorer – in a squad aiming for a maiden international competition appearance.

They have never played Wales.

Bosnia were defeated just once in the qualifiers, and earned a points additional than Wales managed in their 8 games, but still finished 2 points behind of their group winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from clinching a place at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the teams drew in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the pool.

The Welsh have not managed to beat the Bosnian side in 4 matches but experienced a memorable loss against the Dragons as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

As his country's historic leading scorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's standout player.

The veteran was his squad's leading goalscorer in the qualifiers with five goals.

Lastly, we have Ireland.

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

Troy Parrott netted both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a hat-trick – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to take runner-up spot in Group F in thrilling fashion.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his team's resurgence while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one position his to keep.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their past four encounters with the Welsh, defeated in 3 of those, although James McClean shattered the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.