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Wales' sights are firmly on Thursday's World Cup playoff fixture as they await discovering their semi-final and possible final challengers.

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

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

Ex- 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, I played with him and his mentality is 'give us whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw commented.

"A lot of fans were wondering last night, 'do we actually want Ireland as it's that local feel?'. In my view many supporters didn't. But personally, that would be incredible.

"It's that type of situation, yes, we're ready for Kosovo or the Bosnians and the Albanians are not bad and Ireland, of course, they are a capable team so it will be tough.

"However you just feel that we're prepared for anyone right now and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semifinal Rivals Evaluated

The Welsh squad sit thirty-fourth in the world standings, with Albania 61st, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side 84th.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a solid qualifying run, with their sole defeats coming at the hands of their group winners England, who secured maximum points without conceding a single goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's prominent players, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their goal chart in the qualifiers with 3 goals.

Notably, Albania have never earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, although they featured at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, failing to advance to the last 16 on each occasions.

As Slovenia and Sweden endured poor campaigns, with both not managing to win a qualification match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland ended the six-match campaign 3 points ahead of the Kosovans, whose one loss came at the hands of the pool winners.

Kosovo feature former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic leading goalscorer – in a team targeting a maiden major tournament appearance.

They have not yet faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia lost just once in the qualifiers, and claimed a point more than Wales managed in their eight games, but still ended two points adrift of Group H winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from securing a spot at the finals, 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.

Wales have failed to defeat the Bosnian side in 4 attempts but experienced a unforgettable loss against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

Being his country'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 squad's leading goalscorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.

And finally, we have Ireland.

After taken only a single point from their first three qualifiers, 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 the 2016 European Championship 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 place in their group in dramatic style.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his side's resurgence while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting position his own.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their past 4 encounters with Wales, losing three of those, though James McClean broke the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.