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Wales' attention are squarely on Thursday's World Cup play-off draw as they await learning their semifinal and possible final rivals.

Having finished as runners-up in their qualifying pool following a dominant 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – the side will play the semifinal match on their own turf.

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

Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw thinks the Welsh squad will relish a match against whichever team after their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

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

"A lot of people were saying recently, 'do we really want Ireland as it's that local atmosphere?'. I think many supporters were hesitant. But for me, that could be incredible.

"It's that type of situation, yes, we'll take the Kosovans or the Bosnians and the Albanians are not bad and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they are a strong team so it will be tough.

"But the sense is that we'll take anybody right now and we're confident, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Possible Play-off Semifinal Rivals Reviewed

Wales are placed thirty-fourth in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia 75th and the Kosovan side 84th.

Albania had a solid qualification campaign, with their only losses suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who secured maximum points without conceding a solitary goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's more notable players, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their scoring tally in qualifying with three goals.

It is worth noting, the Albanians have never qualified for a World Cup, although they featured at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, failing to advance to the last 16 on both occasions.

While Slovenia and Sweden had torrid campaigns, with both not managing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland ended the six-match qualifiers three points clear of the Kosovans, whose one defeat came at the hands of the group winners.

Kosovo include ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time leading goalscorer – in a squad targeting a maiden international competition appearance.

They have never played the Welsh team.

Bosnia-Herzegovina lost only one time in qualifying, and claimed a point additional than Wales achieved in their 8 games, but still finished two points adrift of their group winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from clinching a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the pair tied in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.

The Welsh have failed to defeat the Bosnians in four attempts but did have a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

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

The 39-year-old was his team's leading goalscorer in qualifying with five goals.

Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.

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

Troy Parrott scored the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to secure runner-up place in their group in thrilling style.

Key player Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his team's resurgence while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one jersey his to keep.

Ireland are winless in their last four encounters with Wales, losing three of those, although James McClean broke the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.