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Wales' focus are firmly on Thursday's World Cup play-off fixture as they prepare for learning their semi-final and potential final challengers.

After ended as runners-up in their qualification pool thanks to a commanding 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – the side will host the semi-final match on home soil.

They will face either the Albanian side, Bosnia, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that match on 26 March.

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Dragons will welcome a tie against whichever team following their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mindset is 'bring on whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw said.

"Many supporters were asking recently, 'do we actually want Ireland because of that local atmosphere?'. In my view many people didn't. But for me, that could be amazing.

"So it's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take the Kosovans or the Bosnians and the Albanians are decent and Ireland, naturally, they're a capable team so it will be difficult.

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

Potential Play-off Semifinal Opponents Reviewed

Wales sit 34th in the world standings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side 84th.

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

The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's recognizable names, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their goal chart in the qualifiers with 3 goals.

Importantly, the Albanians have not yet qualified for a World Cup, although they featured at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, failing to advance to the knockout stages on both times.

While Slovenia and Sweden had torrid runs, with both not managing to win a qualifying match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

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

Kosovo feature former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic leading goalscorer – in a squad targeting a maiden international competition appearance.

They have not yet played Wales.

Bosnia lost only one time in qualifying, and claimed a points more than the Welsh managed in their 8 games, but nonetheless ended two points adrift of Group H winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from securing a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians ensured the teams drew in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.

Wales have not managed to defeat the Bosnian side in four matches but experienced a memorable defeat against Zmajevi as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

As 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 veteran was his squad's top scorer in qualifying with five goals.

And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.

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

Troy Parrott scored both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to take second place in Group F in dramatic style.

Talisman Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his team's resurgence while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one jersey his own.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their past 4 meetings with the Welsh, defeated in 3 of these, although James McClean broke the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.