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Wales' attention are firmly on Thursday's World Cup playoff fixture as they await learning their semi-final and potential final opponents.

After finished second in their qualification group thanks to a commanding 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – the side will host the semi-final encounter on their own turf.

They will face either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw thinks the Dragons will embrace a match against whichever opponent after their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mindset is 'give us anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw stated.

"A lot of fans were asking recently, 'should we really want Ireland because of that derby atmosphere?'. In my view a number of people didn't. But for me, that would be amazing.

"It's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take the Kosovans or the Bosnians and Albania are competitive and Ireland, naturally, they're a strong team so they'll be difficult.

"However the sense is that we'll take anybody right now and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Possible Play-off Semifinal Opponents Reviewed

Wales are placed 34th in the FIFA standings, with Albania 61st, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side 84th.

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

Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's recognizable players, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their scoring chart in qualifying with 3 goals.

Importantly, Albania have not yet qualified for a World Cup, though they participated at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, failing to reach the last 16 on each times.

While Slovenia and Sweden had torrid campaigns, with each failing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Swiss ended the six-match campaign three points ahead of Kosovo, whose single loss came at the hands of the group winners.

The Kosovan squad include ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time leading goalscorer – in a team aiming for a first international competition appearance.

They have not yet faced Wales.

Bosnia lost only one time in qualifying, and earned a point more than Wales achieved in their eight games, but nonetheless ended two points behind of Group H winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from securing a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians ensured the pair drew in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.

The Welsh have failed to beat the Bosnians in four attempts but did have a unforgettable loss against Zmajevi as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

As his country's all-time top goalscorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's standout player.

The 39-year-old was his squad's top scorer in qualifying with 5 goals.

Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.

After taken only a single point from their opening 3 qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the play-offs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to secure runner-up spot in Group F in thrilling style.

Key player Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his side's resurgence while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one jersey his own.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their last 4 encounters with the Welsh, losing three of these, although James McClean broke the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.