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Wales' attention are firmly on Thursday's World Cup play-off draw as they prepare for learning their semifinal and possible final rivals.

After finished as runners-up in their qualifying pool following a dominant 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – the side will host the semi-final encounter on home soil.

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

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will welcome a match against whichever team following their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mentality is 'bring on anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw stated.

"A lot of fans were saying last night, 'do we actually want Ireland as it's that local atmosphere?'. In my view many people were hesitant. But personally, that could be fantastic.

"So it's one of those, yes, we'll take the Kosovans or Bosnia and Albania are competitive and Republic of Ireland, of course, they are a very good team so they'll be difficult.

"But the sense is that we'll take anybody right now and we're confident, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Potential Play-off Semifinal Rivals Assessed

Wales are placed 34th in the world rankings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and the Kosovan side 84th.

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

Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's more notable players, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their scoring chart in the qualifiers with 3 goals.

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

While Slovenia and Sweden endured difficult runs, with each failing to win a qualification match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Swiss finished the six-game qualifiers three points ahead of the Kosovans, whose single loss came at the hands of the group winners.

Kosovo feature ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic top scorer – in a squad targeting a maiden major tournament appearance.

They have not yet faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia were defeated just once in qualifying, and claimed a point more than Wales managed in their eight games, but still ended 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 teams tied in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.

Wales have failed to beat the Bosnian side in four attempts but experienced a unforgettable loss against the Dragons as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

Being his nation's all-time leading scorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's key player.

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

And finally, we have Ireland.

Having secured just one 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 netted the two goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to take second spot in Group F in dramatic style.

Key player Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his side's resurgence while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one position his to keep.

Ireland are without a win in their past four meetings with the Welsh, losing three of these, although James McClean broke the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.