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Wales' sights are squarely on Thursday's World Cup playoff draw as they await discovering their semi-final and potential final challengers.

After finished as runners-up in their qualifying pool thanks to a decisive 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – Wales will host the semi-final encounter on home soil.

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

Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw believes the Welsh squad will welcome a match against whichever team after their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mindset is 'bring on whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw commented.

"Many fans were asking recently, 'do we actually want Republic of Ireland because of that local feel?'. I think many people didn't. But personally, that would be fantastic.

"So it's one of those, yes, we're ready for the Kosovans or Bosnia and Albania are competitive and Republic of Ireland, of course, they are a very good team so it will be tough.

"However you just feel that we'll take anyone right now and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Potential Playoff Semifinal Opponents Evaluated

Wales sit 34th in the FIFA standings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and the Kosovan side 84th.

The Albanian national team had a strong qualification run, with their sole defeats suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who claimed full points without allowing a solitary goal.

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

It is worth noting, Albania have not yet earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, though they featured at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, failing to reach the last 16 on each occasions.

As Slovenia and Sweden had torrid campaigns, with each failing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Swiss finished the six-match qualifiers three points clear of Kosovo, whose one defeat was at the hands of the group winners.

The Kosovan squad feature ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic leading goalscorer – in a team aiming for a maiden international competition appearance.

They have not yet played Wales.

Bosnia were defeated only one time in the qualifiers, and claimed a point more than the Welsh managed in their 8 games, but nonetheless ended 2 points behind of Group H winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from securing a place at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians meant the pair drew 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 four matches but did have a memorable defeat against Zmajevi as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

As his nation's all-time top goalscorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's key player.

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

And finally, we have Ireland.

After secured only a single point from their first three matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the play-offs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to secure runner-up spot in Group F in thrilling style.

Key player Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his team's revival while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting position his own.

Ireland are without a win in their last four meetings with the Welsh, losing three of these, although James McClean broke the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.