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Wales' sights are firmly on Thursday's World Cup play-off fixture as they await learning their semi-final and possible final rivals.

Having finished as runners-up in their qualifying group following a dominant 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – Wales will host the semi-final match on their own turf.

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

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw thinks the Welsh squad will welcome a tie against whichever opponent following their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his approach is 'bring on anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw stated.

"A lot of fans were wondering recently, 'do we really want Republic of Ireland as it's that local feel?'. In my view a number of supporters didn't. But for me, that could be incredible.

"It's one of those, indeed, we're ready for Kosovo or Bosnia and the Albanians are not bad and Ireland, of course, they are a very good team so it will be difficult.

"But you just feel 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 Play-off Semi-final Opponents Assessed

The Welsh squad sit thirty-fourth in the world rankings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side 84th.

Albania had a solid qualifying run, with their only defeats suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed maximum points without conceding a single goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's prominent names, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their goal chart in the qualifiers with 3 goals.

Importantly, the Albanians have never earned a spot for a World Cup, although they featured at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, failing to advance to the knockout stages on both occasions.

As Slovenia and Sweden had difficult campaigns, with each not managing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Swiss ended the six-game qualifiers 3 points ahead of Kosovo, whose single loss came at the hands of the group winners.

The Kosovan squad include former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic top scorer – in a team targeting a maiden major tournament appearance.

They have not yet played Wales.

Bosnia lost only one time in the qualifiers, and earned a point more than the Welsh achieved in their 8 games, but nonetheless ended 2 points behind of their group winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from clinching a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians ensured the pair drew in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.

Wales have failed to defeat the Bosnians in 4 matches but experienced a unforgettable defeat against the Dragons as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after losing.

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

The 39-year-old was his squad's top scorer in qualifying with five goals.

And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.

After secured just one point from their first three matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the playoffs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott netted both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to take runner-up place in Group F in thrilling style.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his side's revival while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one jersey his own.

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