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Wales' attention are squarely on Thursday's World Cup play-off draw as they await discovering their semi-final and possible final rivals.

Having ended as runners-up in their qualifying group thanks to a dominant 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – the side will play the semifinal encounter on home soil.

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

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw believes the Welsh squad will embrace a match against whichever opponent after their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mentality is 'bring on whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw commented.

"Many people were asking recently, 'should we actually want Republic of Ireland as it's that derby feel?'. I think many supporters didn't. But for me, that would be incredible.

"It's one of those, indeed, we'll take Kosovo or the Bosnians and the Albanians are decent and Republic of Ireland, of course, they're a capable team so they'll be challenging.

"However the sense is that we're prepared for anybody right now and it doesn't matter, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Potential Play-off Semi-final Rivals Assessed

Wales sit thirty-fourth in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia 75th and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a solid qualifying campaign, with their sole losses coming at the hands of their group winners England, who secured maximum points without allowing a single goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's recognizable names, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their scoring chart in qualifying with 3 goals.

Importantly, the Albanians have not yet qualified for a World Cup, although they featured at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, failing to reach the last 16 on both times.

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

The Switzerland ended the six-game qualifiers 3 points ahead of Kosovo, whose one loss was at the hands of the group winners.

The Kosovan squad feature former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic top scorer – in a squad targeting a maiden international competition appearance.

They have not yet played Wales.

Bosnia lost just once in the qualifiers, and earned a points more than Wales managed in their eight games, but nonetheless ended 2 points behind of Group H winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from clinching a place at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians meant the teams tied in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the pool.

Wales have not managed to defeat the Bosnians in four matches but did have a unforgettable defeat against Zmajevi as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

Being his nation's all-time top goalscorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's standout player.

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

Lastly, we have Ireland.

After secured 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 the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to secure runner-up spot in their group in thrilling style.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his side's revival while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one position his to keep.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their last four encounters with Wales, defeated in 3 of those, although James McClean broke the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.