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Wales' sights are squarely on Thursday's World Cup play-off fixture as they prepare for learning their semifinal and potential final rivals.

After ended second in their qualifying group following a commanding 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – Wales will play the semifinal match on home soil.

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

Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw believes the Welsh squad will embrace a tie against any opponent after their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mindset is 'give us anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw stated.

"Many people were saying recently, 'do we actually want Ireland as it's that derby atmosphere?'. In my view many people were hesitant. But for me, that could be incredible.

"So it's that type of situation, yes, we're ready for Kosovo or Bosnia and Albania are not bad and Republic of Ireland, of course, they are a capable team so it will be challenging.

"However you just feel that we're prepared for anybody right now and we're confident, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semi-final Opponents Assessed

Wales sit 34th in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia 75th and Kosovo eighty-fourth.

The Albanian national team had a strong qualification campaign, with their sole defeats coming at the hands of their group winners England, who secured full points without conceding a solitary goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's prominent players, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their scoring tally in qualifying with 3 goals.

It is worth noting, Albania have not yet earned a spot for a World Cup, although they featured at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, failing to advance to the knockout stages on both occasions.

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

The Switzerland finished the six-match campaign 3 points clear of Kosovo, whose single loss was at the hands of the group winners.

The Kosovan squad feature ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic top scorer – in a squad aiming for a first international competition appearance.

They have not yet played the Welsh team.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated only one time in the qualifiers, and claimed a points more than Wales managed in their 8 games, but nonetheless finished 2 points behind of their group winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from securing a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians ensured the pair tied in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.

Wales have not managed to beat the Bosnians in 4 attempts but experienced a memorable loss against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

As his country's all-time leading scorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's standout player.

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

And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.

After secured only a single point from their first three qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the playoffs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott netted the two goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to secure second spot in their group in dramatic fashion.

Key player Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his team's resurgence while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting position his own.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their last 4 meetings with Wales, losing 3 of those, though James McClean shattered the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.