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

After ended second in their qualification pool thanks to a commanding 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – Wales will host the semifinal match on their own turf.

They will play against either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Kosovan team or Republic of Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.

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

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

"Many supporters were asking recently, 'do we actually want Republic of Ireland as it's that derby feel?'. I think many supporters didn't. But personally, that would be fantastic.

"So it's one of those, indeed, we'll take Kosovo or the Bosnians and Albania are not bad and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they are a capable team so they'll be difficult.

"However the sense is that we're prepared for anyone at the moment and it doesn't matter, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semifinal Opponents Reviewed

The Welsh squad sit thirty-fourth in the FIFA standings, with the Albanian team 61st, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and Kosovo 84th.

The Albanian national team had a strong qualifying run, with their only losses coming at the hands of their group winners England, who secured maximum points without conceding a solitary goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's prominent names, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their goal chart in qualifying with three goals.

Importantly, Albania have not yet earned a spot for a World Cup, though they featured at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, failing to advance to the last 16 on both occasions.

While Slovenia and Sweden endured difficult runs, with both failing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

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

Bosnia lost just once in the qualifiers, and claimed a points additional than the Welsh achieved in their 8 games, but nonetheless ended 2 points behind of their group winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from clinching a place at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians ensured the teams tied in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.

Wales have failed to defeat the Bosnians in 4 attempts but did have a memorable loss against the Dragons as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

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

The 39-year-old was his team's leading goalscorer in qualifying with 5 goals.

Lastly, we have Ireland.

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

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

Talisman Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his side's resurgence while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting position his to keep.

The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their past 4 meetings with Wales, losing 3 of those, though James McClean shattered the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.