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Wales' attention are firmly on Thursday's World Cup play-off fixture as they await discovering their semi-final and possible final opponents.

After finished second in their qualifying group following a dominant 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – Wales will play the semi-final match on their own turf.

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

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

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

"Many supporters were wondering last night, 'do we really want Ireland as it's that local feel?'. I think many supporters were hesitant. But personally, that could be amazing.

"So it's one of those, indeed, we'll take the Kosovans or Bosnia and the Albanians are competitive and Ireland, naturally, they are a capable team so it will be difficult.

"But 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 Evaluated

Wales sit 34th in the FIFA rankings, with Albania 61st, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and Kosovo 84th.

The Albanian national team had a strong qualifying run, with their sole losses coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured full points without conceding a single goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's more notable names, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their goal chart in the qualifiers with 3 goals.

Notably, the Albanians have not yet earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, though they featured at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, failing to advance to the last 16 on each occasions.

As Slovenia and Sweden had poor runs, with both failing to win a qualifying match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Swiss finished the six-game qualifiers three points ahead of Kosovo, whose single defeat came at the hands of the pool winners.

Kosovo include former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic top scorer – in a squad targeting a first international competition appearance.

They have not yet played the Welsh team.

Bosnia were defeated just once in qualifying, and claimed a point additional than Wales managed in their eight games, but nonetheless finished two points adrift of Group H winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from securing a place at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the teams tied in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.

Wales have not managed to defeat the Bosnian side in 4 attempts but did have a unforgettable defeat against Zmajevi as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite losing.

As his nation's historic top goalscorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's standout player.

The veteran was his team's leading goalscorer in qualifying with five goals.

And finally, we have Ireland.

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

Troy Parrott netted the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a hat-trick – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to secure runner-up spot in their group in dramatic fashion.

Key player Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his side's revival while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting jersey his own.

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