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

After ended second in their qualifying group following a decisive 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – the side will host the semi-final encounter on home soil.

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

Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw thinks the Welsh squad will welcome a tie against whichever opponent after their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

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

"Many people were saying last night, 'should we really want Ireland because of that local atmosphere?'. I think a number of people were hesitant. But for me, that could be fantastic.

"It's one of those, yes, we'll take the Kosovans or Bosnia and Albania are not bad and Ireland, naturally, they are a strong team so it will be tough.

"But the sense is that we're prepared for anybody at the moment and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semi-final Opponents Reviewed

The Welsh squad are placed 34th in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a solid qualification run, with their sole losses suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who secured maximum points without conceding a single goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's recognizable players, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their goal tally in qualifying with three goals.

It is worth noting, Albania have not yet qualified for a FIFA World Cup, though they featured at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, not managing to reach the last 16 on both occasions.

As Slovenia and Sweden endured poor campaigns, with each failing to win a qualification match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Swiss ended the six-match qualifiers three points ahead of the Kosovans, whose one loss came at the hands of the pool winners.

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

They have not yet faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia-Herzegovina lost just once in qualifying, and claimed a points additional than the Welsh achieved in their eight games, but nonetheless finished two points behind of their group winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from securing a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians ensured the teams tied in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.

Wales have not managed to defeat the Bosnian side in four attempts but did have a memorable defeat against Zmajevi as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

Being his country's historic top goalscorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player.

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

Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.

Having secured just one point from their first 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the play-offs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored the two goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to secure second place in Group F in dramatic fashion.

Key player Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his side's resurgence while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting position his own.

Ireland are winless in their last 4 meetings with Wales, losing three of these, although James McClean shattered the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.