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Wales' sights are firmly on Thursday's World Cup playoff draw as they await discovering their semi-final and possible final opponents.

After ended second in their qualifying pool thanks to a commanding 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – Wales will play the semi-final encounter on their own turf.

They will play against either the Albanian side, Bosnia, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw believes the Welsh squad will welcome a tie against any opponent following their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mindset is 'give us whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw stated.

"A lot of supporters were asking recently, 'do we really want Ireland because of that local feel?'. In my view many supporters were hesitant. But for me, that would be incredible.

"So it's one of those, indeed, we're ready for the Kosovans or the Bosnians and the Albanians are decent and Republic of Ireland, of course, they are a capable team so they'll be tough.

"However you just feel that we're prepared for anybody right now and we're confident, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Potential Play-off Semi-final Rivals Evaluated

The Welsh squad sit 34th in the world standings, with the Albanian team 61st, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.

Albania had a solid qualifying campaign, with their only losses coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed full points without conceding a single goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's more notable players, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their goal tally in qualifying with three goals.

Notably, Albania have never earned a spot for a World Cup, although they participated at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, failing to advance to the knockout stages on each occasions.

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

The Swiss finished the six-game qualifiers 3 points clear of the Kosovans, whose one defeat was at the hands of the group winners.

The Kosovan squad feature former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic leading goalscorer – in a team aiming for a first international competition appearance.

They have not yet faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia were defeated only one time in qualifying, and claimed a point more than Wales achieved in their eight games, but nonetheless ended two points adrift of their group winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from clinching a place at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians meant the teams drew in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.

Wales have failed to defeat the Bosnian side in 4 matches but did have a unforgettable loss against the Dragons as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite losing.

As his country's historic leading scorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's standout player.

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

And finally, we have Ireland.

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

Troy Parrott netted the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to secure runner-up spot in their group in thrilling style.

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

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their past four encounters with the Welsh, defeated in 3 of those, though James McClean broke the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.