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

Having finished second in their qualifying group thanks to a commanding 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – the side will host the semifinal match on home soil.

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

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw thinks the Welsh squad will welcome a tie against any opponent following their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.

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

"Many people were asking last night, 'should we actually want Republic of Ireland because of that derby feel?'. I think many people were hesitant. But for me, that could be fantastic.

"So it's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take Kosovo or the Bosnians and Albania are not bad and Ireland, of course, they're a very good 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 because of Craig Bellamy."

Possible Play-off Semifinal Opponents Assessed

The Welsh squad sit thirty-fourth in the world standings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia 75th and the Kosovan side 84th.

Albania enjoyed a impressive qualification campaign, with their sole losses coming at the hands of their group winners England, who secured full points without allowing a single goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's recognizable players, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their scoring tally in the qualifiers with three goals.

It is worth noting, Albania have not yet qualified for a FIFA World Cup, though they participated at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, failing to reach the knockout stages on each times.

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

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

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

They have not yet played the Welsh team.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated just once in the qualifiers, and claimed a points more than the Welsh managed in their 8 games, but still ended two points behind of their group winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from securing a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians ensured the pair tied in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.

The Welsh have not managed to beat the Bosnian side in 4 attempts but did have a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

Being his country's all-time leading scorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player.

The veteran was his squad's top scorer in qualifying with 5 goals.

Lastly, we have Ireland.

Having secured only a single 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 the two goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to take runner-up spot in their group in dramatic style.

Talisman Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his team's revival while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting position his own.

The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their past four encounters with the Welsh, losing 3 of these, although James McClean broke the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.