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Wales' focus are firmly on Thursday's World Cup play-off fixture as they await discovering their semifinal and potential final rivals.

After finished second in their qualifying pool following a dominant 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – Wales will play the semi-final match on home soil.

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

Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw believes the Dragons will embrace a match against whichever team following their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mindset is 'give us whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw commented.

"A lot of people were saying last night, 'do we actually want Ireland as it's that derby atmosphere?'. I think many people didn't. But personally, that could be amazing.

"It's one of those, yes, we're ready for the Kosovans or Bosnia and the Albanians are decent and Ireland, of course, they're a capable team so they'll be challenging.

"But you just feel that we're prepared for anybody right now and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semi-final Rivals Evaluated

The Welsh squad are placed 34th in the FIFA standings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side 84th.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a impressive qualification run, with their only defeats coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured full points without allowing a single goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's more notable players, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their goal chart in qualifying with three goals.

Notably, the Albanians have never earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, though they featured at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, failing to reach the knockout stages on both times.

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

The Swiss ended the six-match campaign 3 points clear of Kosovo, whose one defeat came at the hands of the group winners.

Kosovo include ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time leading goalscorer – in a team aiming for a maiden international competition appearance.

They have never played Wales.

Bosnia were defeated just once in the qualifiers, and claimed a points more than Wales managed in their 8 games, but still finished 2 points behind of their group winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from clinching a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the teams tied in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.

The Welsh have not managed to defeat the Bosnian side in 4 matches but experienced a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

Being his nation's historic top goalscorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's star player.

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

And finally, we have Ireland.

After secured only a single point from their first 3 qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the playoffs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to take second spot in Group F in dramatic style.

Talisman Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his team's resurgence while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one position his to keep.

The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their last 4 meetings with Wales, losing 3 of these, although James McClean shattered the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.