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Wales' sights are firmly on Thursday's World Cup playoff fixture as they prepare for discovering their semifinal and potential final opponents.

After ended as runners-up in their qualifying pool thanks to a commanding 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – Wales will play the semi-final match on their own turf.

They will face either Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo or Ireland in that match on 26 March.

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will relish a tie against any team after their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his approach is 'give us whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw stated.

"A lot of people were wondering recently, 'should we really want Republic of Ireland because of that derby feel?'. I think many people were hesitant. But for me, that would be fantastic.

"It's one of those, indeed, we're ready for Kosovo or Bosnia and the Albanians are not bad and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they are a strong team so they'll be challenging.

"But the sense is that we'll take anybody at the moment and we're confident, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semi-final Opponents Reviewed

Wales are placed thirty-fourth in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team 61st, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side 84th.

Albania enjoyed a solid qualification campaign, with their sole defeats coming at the hands of their group winners England, who secured full points without allowing a solitary goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's prominent 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 FIFA World Cup, though they featured at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, not managing to reach the last 16 on both occasions.

While Slovenia and Sweden had torrid campaigns, with each not managing to win a qualifying match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Switzerland finished the six-match qualifiers three points ahead of Kosovo, whose one defeat came at the hands of the pool winners.

The Kosovan squad feature ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic top scorer – in a team aiming for a first major tournament appearance.

They have never faced Wales.

Bosnia lost just once in qualifying, and claimed a points more than the Welsh managed in their eight games, but still finished 2 points adrift of Group H 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 final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.

The Welsh have failed to beat the Bosnians in four matches but did have a unforgettable defeat against Zmajevi as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite losing.

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

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

Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.

Having taken only a single point from their first 3 qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the play-offs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott netted both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a hat-trick – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to take second spot in their group in thrilling style.

Key player Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his team's resurgence while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one jersey his to keep.

Ireland are without a win in their last 4 encounters with the Welsh, defeated in 3 of these, though James McClean shattered the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.