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

After ended as runners-up in their qualification pool following a decisive 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – the side will play the semifinal encounter on their own turf.

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

Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw thinks the Dragons will relish a tie against any opponent after their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mindset is 'give us anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw stated.

"Many supporters were saying recently, 'do we really want Ireland because of that derby feel?'. In my view many supporters didn't. But for me, that could be fantastic.

"So it's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take the Kosovans or the Bosnians and the Albanians are competitive and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they're a very good team so it will be challenging.

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

Potential Playoff Semi-final Opponents Reviewed

Wales sit thirty-fourth in the FIFA standings, with Albania sixty-first, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.

Albania enjoyed a strong qualification campaign, with their only defeats suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed maximum points without allowing a solitary goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's more notable players, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their goal tally in qualifying with 3 goals.

Importantly, the Albanians have never earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, though they participated at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, failing to reach the last 16 on both occasions.

As Slovenia and Sweden endured difficult runs, with both failing to win a qualifying match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland finished the six-game qualifiers 3 points clear of the Kosovans, whose one loss came at the hands of the group winners.

Kosovo feature former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic leading goalscorer – in a team aiming for a first major tournament appearance.

They have not yet played the Welsh team.

Bosnia-Herzegovina lost only one time in qualifying, and claimed a points additional than the Welsh managed in their eight games, but nonetheless ended two points adrift of Group H winners Austria.

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

Wales have failed to beat the Bosnians in 4 attempts but did have a memorable loss against Zmajevi as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

Being his country's all-time leading scorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's standout player.

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

Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.

After secured just one point from their opening 3 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 hat-trick – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to secure runner-up spot in Group F in dramatic style.

Talisman Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his side's resurgence while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one jersey his own.

The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their last four encounters with Wales, defeated in three of these, though James McClean broke the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.