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Wales' focus are firmly on Thursday's World Cup play-off fixture as they prepare for discovering their semifinal and possible final challengers.

After ended second in their qualifying pool following a dominant 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – Wales will play the semifinal encounter on their own turf.

They will play against either Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo or Ireland in that match on 26 March.

Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw believes the Dragons will relish a tie against whichever team following their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

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

"A lot of supporters were asking recently, 'should we really want Republic of Ireland as it's that local feel?'. I think many supporters were hesitant. But personally, that could be incredible.

"So it's that type of situation, yes, we're ready for the Kosovans or the Bosnians and Albania are decent and Republic of Ireland, of course, they're a very good team so they'll be challenging.

"But the sense is that we'll take anybody at the moment and it doesn't matter, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Possible Play-off Semifinal Rivals Evaluated

The Welsh squad are placed 34th in the FIFA standings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and Kosovo eighty-fourth.

The Albanian national team had a strong qualification run, with their sole losses coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed maximum points without allowing a single goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's recognizable names, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their goal chart in the qualifiers with three goals.

Importantly, Albania have never earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, though they participated at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, not managing to reach the last 16 on each occasions.

As Slovenia and Sweden had torrid campaigns, with each failing to win a qualifying match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Swiss ended the six-match campaign three points ahead of Kosovo, whose one loss was at the hands of the pool winners.

The Kosovan squad feature former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time top scorer – in a team aiming for a maiden international competition appearance.

They have never played the Welsh team.

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

They were 13 minutes away from securing 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 pool.

The Welsh have failed to defeat the Bosnian side in 4 attempts but experienced a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

Being his nation's historic top goalscorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's key player.

The veteran was his team's top scorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.

Lastly, we have Ireland.

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

Troy Parrott scored both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to take runner-up place in their group in dramatic style.

Talisman Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his team's resurgence while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting jersey his own.

Ireland are without a win in their past four meetings with the Welsh, defeated in 3 of those, though 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.