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

Having finished second in their qualification group thanks to a dominant 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – Wales will play the semifinal match on their own turf.

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

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw believes the Welsh squad will embrace a match against whichever opponent after their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

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

"A lot of supporters were saying last night, 'do we actually want Ireland because of that local feel?'. In my view a number of people were hesitant. But personally, that would be incredible.

"It's that type of situation, yes, we're ready for the Kosovans or the Bosnians and the Albanians are decent and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they're a strong team so they'll be difficult.

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

Possible Playoff Semi-final Opponents Reviewed

The Welsh squad sit 34th in the world standings, with Albania sixty-first, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and Kosovo eighty-fourth.

Albania enjoyed a impressive qualification run, with their sole defeats suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed maximum points without allowing a single goal.

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

It is worth noting, Albania have not yet qualified for a World Cup, though they participated at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, not managing to advance to the knockout stages on both occasions.

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

The Switzerland finished the six-game qualifiers 3 points clear of Kosovo, whose one defeat came at the hands of the group winners.

Kosovo include former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time leading goalscorer – in a team targeting a first international competition appearance.

They have not yet faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia lost only one time in qualifying, and earned a points more than Wales achieved in their 8 games, but still finished 2 points adrift of their group winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from clinching a place at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the pair tied in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the pool.

Wales have not managed to defeat the Bosnians in four matches but experienced a unforgettable loss against the Dragons as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

Being his nation's all-time leading scorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's key player.

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

Lastly, we have Ireland.

Having secured only a single point from their opening 3 qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the playoffs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott netted the two goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to secure runner-up spot in Group F in thrilling fashion.

Talisman Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his side's resurgence while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting jersey his own.

Ireland are winless in their last 4 encounters with the Welsh, losing three of those, although James McClean shattered the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.