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

After finished as runners-up in their qualifying pool thanks to a dominant 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – Wales will host the semifinal match on home soil.

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

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Dragons will embrace a match against any opponent after their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

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

"A lot of supporters were asking recently, 'do we actually want Republic of Ireland as it's that derby atmosphere?'. I think a number of supporters were hesitant. But for me, that could be amazing.

"So it's that type of situation, indeed, we're ready for Kosovo or Bosnia and the Albanians are competitive and Republic of Ireland, of course, they are a very good team so they'll be challenging.

"But you just feel that we'll take anyone right now and we're confident, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Possible Play-off Semi-final Rivals Evaluated

Wales are placed 34th in the FIFA rankings, with Albania 61st, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.

Albania had a solid qualifying campaign, with their only losses coming at the hands of their group winners England, who secured full points without conceding a solitary goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's more notable players, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their goal tally in the qualifiers with three goals.

Notably, the Albanians have not yet earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, although they featured at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, not managing to advance to the knockout stages on both occasions.

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 Switzerland finished the six-match qualifiers three points ahead of Kosovo, whose single 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 all-time leading goalscorer – in a team targeting a first international competition appearance.

They have never faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia lost just once in qualifying, and claimed a points additional than Wales managed in their 8 games, but nonetheless ended 2 points adrift of Group H winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from securing a place at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians meant the teams tied in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.

The Welsh have failed to beat the Bosnian side in 4 attempts but experienced a unforgettable loss against the Dragons as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

As his country's historic leading scorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's standout player.

The veteran was his squad's top scorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.

And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.

Having secured only a single point from their opening three qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the playoffs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott netted the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to take runner-up place in their group in thrilling style.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his side's resurgence while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting jersey his own.

Ireland are without a win in their last 4 encounters with Wales, defeated in three of these, although James McClean broke the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.