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Wales' sights are firmly on Thursday's World Cup playoff draw as they await learning their semifinal and potential final challengers.

Having ended as runners-up in their qualifying pool following a decisive 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – Wales will play the semifinal match on home soil.

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

Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw thinks the Welsh squad will embrace a match against any team following their most recent performance 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.

"Many fans were saying recently, 'do we actually want Ireland as it's that local feel?'. In my view many supporters didn't. But for me, that would be incredible.

"It's that type of situation, 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 difficult.

"But the sense is that we'll take anyone at the moment and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Possible Play-off Semifinal Opponents Evaluated

The Welsh squad sit thirty-fourth in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and Kosovo eighty-fourth.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a impressive qualification campaign, with their only losses suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured maximum points without allowing a solitary goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's recognizable names, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their scoring chart in qualifying with 3 goals.

It is worth noting, the Albanians have never qualified for a World Cup, though they participated at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, not managing to advance to the last 16 on each occasions.

While Slovenia and Sweden had torrid runs, with both not managing to win a qualification match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Switzerland finished the six-match qualifiers 3 points ahead of the Kosovans, whose one loss was at the hands of the group winners.

The Kosovan squad include former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic top scorer – in a team aiming for a maiden major tournament appearance.

They have not yet faced Wales.

Bosnia lost only one time in qualifying, and earned a point additional than Wales achieved in their 8 games, but still ended two points adrift 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 leveler for the Austrians meant the teams drew in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the pool.

The Welsh have failed to defeat the Bosnians in four attempts but did have a unforgettable loss against Zmajevi as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite losing.

Being his nation's historic leading scorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's standout player.

The veteran was his squad's leading goalscorer in qualifying with 5 goals.

Lastly, we have Ireland.

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

Troy Parrott netted both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to secure runner-up spot in their group in dramatic fashion.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his side's resurgence while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one position his to keep.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their past four meetings with Wales, defeated in 3 of those, although James McClean shattered 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.