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Wales' sights are firmly on Thursday's World Cup play-off draw as they prepare for discovering their semi-final and possible final challengers.

After ended second in their qualification group thanks to a decisive 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – the side will host the semifinal match on home soil.

They will face either the Albanian side, Bosnia, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will embrace a tie against any opponent after their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mentality is 'bring on anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw commented.

"A lot of supporters were asking last night, 'do we actually want Ireland as it's that derby feel?'. I think a number of supporters didn't. But for me, that would be fantastic.

"It's one of those, yes, we'll take the Kosovans or Bosnia and Albania are decent and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they are a very good team so they'll be challenging.

"However the sense is that we're prepared for anybody at the moment and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Potential Playoff Semifinal Rivals Assessed

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

Albania enjoyed a impressive qualifying run, with their only losses coming at the hands of their group winners England, who secured maximum points without allowing a solitary goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's more notable names, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their goal chart in the qualifiers with 3 goals.

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

As Slovenia and Sweden endured poor campaigns, with both failing to win a qualification match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland finished the six-match qualifiers three points clear of the Kosovans, whose one loss came at the hands of the pool winners.

Kosovo include former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time leading goalscorer – in a squad targeting a first major tournament appearance.

They have never faced Wales.

Bosnia-Herzegovina lost only one time in the qualifiers, and earned a point more than Wales achieved in their 8 games, but still ended 2 points adrift of Group H winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from clinching a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the teams drew in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.

Wales have not managed to beat the Bosnians in 4 attempts but did have a unforgettable defeat against the Dragons as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite losing.

As his country's all-time leading scorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's key player.

The 39-year-old was his squad's leading goalscorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.

And finally, we have Ireland.

After taken just one 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 hat-trick – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to secure second place in their group in dramatic fashion.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his side's revival while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting position his own.

The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their last four encounters with Wales, defeated in 3 of those, though James McClean shattered the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.