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

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

They will face either Albania, Bosnia, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.

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

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his approach is 'bring on whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw commented.

"Many fans were wondering recently, 'do we actually want Ireland because of that derby feel?'. I think a number of supporters didn't. But personally, that could be incredible.

"It's one of those, yes, we'll take 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 tough.

"But you just feel that we'll take anyone right now and it doesn't matter, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semifinal Rivals Assessed

The Welsh squad sit thirty-fourth in the world standings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and Kosovo eighty-fourth.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a solid qualifying campaign, with their sole losses coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed full points without conceding a single goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's more notable players, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their goal tally in the qualifiers with three goals.

It is worth noting, Albania have never qualified for a FIFA World Cup, although they participated at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, not managing to reach the knockout stages on each times.

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

The Switzerland finished the six-game campaign 3 points clear of the Kosovans, whose single loss came at the hands of the pool winners.

Kosovo feature ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time leading goalscorer – in a team aiming for a maiden major tournament appearance.

They have not yet played Wales.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated just once in the qualifiers, and claimed a points additional than Wales managed in their 8 games, but nonetheless finished two points adrift of their group winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from clinching 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 group.

The Welsh have not managed to beat the Bosnian side in four attempts but did have a unforgettable loss against the Dragons as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite losing.

Being his nation's all-time leading scorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player.

The 39-year-old was his team's top scorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.

And finally, we have Ireland.

After taken only a single point from their opening three matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the play-offs 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 hat-trick – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to secure runner-up place in their group in dramatic fashion.

Key player Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his team's revival while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one jersey his to keep.

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