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Wales' attention are firmly on Thursday's World Cup playoff fixture as they await learning their semifinal and possible final challengers.

After ended second in their qualifying pool thanks to a decisive 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – Wales will play the semi-final encounter on home soil.

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

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw thinks the Welsh squad will welcome a tie against whichever opponent following their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his approach is 'bring on anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw commented.

"A lot of people were wondering recently, 'should we actually want Ireland because of that derby feel?'. In my view many people were hesitant. But for me, that could be amazing.

"So it's one of those, yes, we'll take Kosovo or the Bosnians and Albania are competitive and Republic of Ireland, of course, they're a very good team so it will be difficult.

"However you just feel that we'll take anybody at the moment and we're confident, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Potential Playoff Semifinal Opponents Evaluated

The Welsh squad are placed thirty-fourth in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia 75th and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.

The Albanian national team had a impressive qualification campaign, with their only losses coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed full points without allowing a solitary goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's recognizable names, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their scoring tally in the qualifiers with 3 goals.

It is worth noting, the Albanians have not yet earned a spot for a World Cup, although they participated at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, failing to advance to the last 16 on both times.

As Slovenia and Sweden endured difficult runs, with both failing to win a qualification match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland finished the six-match campaign three points clear of the Kosovans, whose single loss came at the hands of the group winners.

Kosovo include ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time top scorer – in a squad aiming for a maiden major tournament appearance.

They have never faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia were defeated just once in the qualifiers, and earned a points more than Wales achieved in their eight games, but nonetheless finished 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 equaliser for the Austrians meant the pair tied in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.

The Welsh have not managed 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 losing.

As his country's historic top goalscorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's key player.

The 39-year-old was his squad's top scorer in qualifying with five goals.

Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.

After taken just one point from their opening 3 qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the play-offs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott netted both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to secure second spot in Group F in thrilling style.

Key player Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his side's revival while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one position his own.

Ireland are winless in their past 4 encounters with Wales, losing 3 of those, although James McClean shattered the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.