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Wales' attention are firmly on Thursday's World Cup play-off draw as they await discovering their semifinal and potential final challengers.

Having finished second in their qualification group thanks to a dominant 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – the side will host the semifinal match on their own turf.

They will play against either the Albanian side, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Kosovan team or Republic of Ireland in that match on 26 March.

Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw feels the Dragons will relish 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 'bring on anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw said.

"Many fans were saying last night, 'should we actually want Republic of Ireland because of that derby feel?'. I think many supporters didn't. But for me, that could be fantastic.

"It's that type of situation, indeed, we're ready for Kosovo or Bosnia and the Albanians are competitive and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they're a strong team so it will be challenging.

"But you just feel that we'll take anybody at the moment and it doesn't matter, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Potential Play-off Semifinal Opponents Assessed

The Welsh squad sit 34th in the FIFA standings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.

Albania had a solid qualification run, with their only losses coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed maximum 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 more notable names, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their goal tally in qualifying with 3 goals.

It is worth noting, the Albanians have not yet earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, although they featured at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, not managing to advance to the knockout stages on each times.

While Slovenia and Sweden had difficult campaigns, with each failing to win a qualifying match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Swiss ended the six-match qualifiers 3 points ahead of the Kosovans, whose single loss was at the hands of the pool winners.

The Kosovan squad include former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time top scorer – in a team aiming for a maiden international competition appearance.

They have not yet played the Welsh team.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated only one time in qualifying, and earned a point additional than Wales managed in their eight games, but still finished 2 points behind of Group H winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from securing a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians ensured the pair drew in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the pool.

Wales have failed to beat the Bosnian side in 4 attempts but did have a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite losing.

As his nation's historic leading scorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's standout player.

The veteran was his squad's top scorer in the qualifiers with five goals.

Lastly, we have Ireland.

After secured just one point from their first three qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged 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 scoring a triple – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to take second spot in their group in thrilling style.

Talisman Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his side's resurgence while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting jersey his to keep.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their past four encounters with the Welsh, losing three of those, though James McClean shattered the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.