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Wales' focus are firmly on Thursday's World Cup playoff draw as they prepare for discovering their semi-final and potential final rivals.

After finished as runners-up in their qualification group thanks to a dominant 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – the side will host the semi-final match on their own turf.

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

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Dragons will embrace a tie against any opponent following their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mentality is 'give us anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw stated.

"Many supporters were asking last night, 'should we really want Republic of Ireland as it's that local atmosphere?'. I think a number of supporters didn't. But for me, that could be incredible.

"So it's that type of situation, yes, we're ready for the Kosovans or the Bosnians and the Albanians are decent and Ireland, naturally, they are a very good team so they'll be difficult.

"However the sense is that we'll take anyone right now and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Potential Playoff Semi-final Opponents Evaluated

Wales are placed thirty-fourth in the world standings, with Albania sixty-first, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and Kosovo eighty-fourth.

Albania enjoyed a strong qualification campaign, with their only losses coming at the hands of their group winners England, who secured maximum points without allowing a single goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's recognizable players, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their goal tally in the qualifiers with 3 goals.

Importantly, Albania have never qualified for a World Cup, although they featured at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, not managing to advance to the knockout stages on each times.

While Slovenia and Sweden had poor runs, with both failing to win a qualification match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Switzerland finished the six-match qualifiers three points ahead of the Kosovans, whose one loss was at the hands of the group winners.

The Kosovan squad feature ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic leading goalscorer – in a team aiming for a first international competition appearance.

They have never faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia lost only one time in the qualifiers, and claimed a points additional than Wales managed in their eight games, but still ended 2 points adrift of their group winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from securing a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians ensured the pair tied in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the pool.

The Welsh have not managed to beat the Bosnians in 4 matches but did have a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite losing.

Being his nation's all-time leading scorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's key player.

The 39-year-old was his team's top scorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.

And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.

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

Troy Parrott scored both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to take runner-up place in their group in dramatic fashion.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his team's resurgence while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one jersey his to keep.

The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their past 4 meetings with Wales, defeated in 3 of those, though James McClean shattered the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.