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Wales' sights are firmly on Thursday's World Cup play-off draw as they await learning their semifinal and potential final challengers.

After finished second in their qualifying group following a commanding 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – Wales will host the semifinal encounter on home soil.

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

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw thinks the Dragons will welcome a match against whichever opponent after their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

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

"A lot of people were saying last night, 'do we actually want Ireland as it's that local atmosphere?'. I think many people were hesitant. But for me, that could be fantastic.

"So it's one of those, indeed, we'll take the Kosovans or Bosnia and the Albanians are not bad and Republic of Ireland, of course, they're a very good team so they'll be challenging.

"But you just feel that we'll take anyone at the moment and we're confident, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semi-final Opponents Reviewed

Wales are placed 34th in the world standings, with Albania 61st, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia seventy-fifth and Kosovo eighty-fourth.

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

Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's recognizable names, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their scoring tally in the qualifiers with 3 goals.

Importantly, the Albanians have never qualified for a World Cup, though they participated at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, not managing to advance to the knockout stages on each occasions.

While Slovenia and Sweden had poor campaigns, with both not managing to win a qualification match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Swiss ended the six-game campaign three points clear of Kosovo, whose single loss came at the hands of the group winners.

The Kosovan squad feature former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time top scorer – in a squad aiming for a first major tournament appearance.

They have never played Wales.

Bosnia were defeated just once in qualifying, and claimed a points more than the Welsh managed in their 8 games, but still ended 2 points behind of their group winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from clinching a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians meant the pair drew in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the pool.

The Welsh have not managed to beat the Bosnian side in 4 matches but experienced a memorable loss against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

Being his nation's historic leading scorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's standout player.

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

And finally, we have Ireland.

After taken just one point from their first three qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the playoffs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott netted both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to secure runner-up place in Group F in thrilling fashion.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his side's resurgence while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one position his to keep.

Ireland are winless in their last four encounters with the Welsh, losing 3 of these, though James McClean shattered the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.