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Wales' sights are squarely on Thursday's World Cup play-off fixture as they prepare for learning their semi-final and possible final challengers.

After ended second in their qualification group thanks to a dominant 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – the side will play the semi-final match on home soil.

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 forward Rob Earnshaw believes the Welsh squad will relish a match against any team after their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mentality is 'give us whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw stated.

"Many supporters were wondering recently, 'should we really want Ireland because of that local atmosphere?'. In my view a number of supporters were hesitant. But personally, that would be fantastic.

"It's that type of situation, indeed, we're ready for the Kosovans or the Bosnians and Albania are decent and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they're a capable team so it will be challenging.

"But you just feel that we're prepared for anybody at the moment and we're confident, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Potential Play-off Semi-final Opponents Reviewed

The Welsh squad sit thirty-fourth in the world standings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia 75th and Kosovo 84th.

Albania enjoyed a strong qualification campaign, with their sole defeats coming at the hands of their group winners England, who claimed maximum points without conceding a single goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's more notable players, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their scoring tally in the qualifiers with 3 goals.

It is worth noting, Albania have never earned a spot for a World Cup, although they participated at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, failing to reach the knockout stages on each occasions.

While Slovenia and Sweden had torrid campaigns, with both failing to win a qualifying match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland finished the six-game campaign 3 points ahead of the Kosovans, whose single loss came at the hands of the pool winners.

The Kosovan squad include ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time leading goalscorer – in a team aiming for a maiden major tournament appearance.

They have not yet faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia-Herzegovina lost just once in the qualifiers, and claimed a points more than Wales achieved in their eight games, but still finished 2 points behind of their group 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 ensured the pair tied in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.

The Welsh have not managed to defeat the Bosnians in four attempts but did have a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

As his nation's historic top goalscorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player.

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

And finally, we have Ireland.

After taken only a single point from their opening three matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the playoffs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott netted both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to take second place in their group in thrilling fashion.

Key player Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his side's resurgence while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one position his to keep.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their past 4 encounters with Wales, losing 3 of those, although James McClean shattered the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.