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Wales' attention are squarely on Thursday's World Cup play-off draw as they await learning their semi-final and potential final opponents.

After finished second in their qualification pool thanks to a dominant 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – Wales will host the semi-final encounter on their own turf.

They will meet either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that match on 26 March.

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Dragons will welcome a tie against whichever opponent after their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his approach is 'bring on anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw commented.

"Many supporters were asking last night, 'do we actually want Ireland as it's that derby feel?'. In my view a number of supporters were hesitant. But personally, that could be fantastic.

"So it's one of those, yes, we're ready for the Kosovans or Bosnia and Albania are not bad and Ireland, naturally, they're a strong team so they'll be tough.

"However you just feel that we're prepared for anyone right now and we're confident, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Possible Play-off Semi-final Rivals Assessed

Wales sit thirty-fourth in the FIFA standings, with Albania sixty-first, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia 75th and the Kosovan side 84th.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a solid qualifying run, with their sole losses suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who claimed maximum points without allowing a solitary goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's prominent players, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their goal tally in the qualifiers with 3 goals.

Notably, the Albanians have not yet earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, although they featured at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, failing to advance to the last 16 on each times.

While Slovenia and Sweden had poor runs, with each failing to win a qualification match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland finished the six-match qualifiers three points ahead of the Kosovans, whose single loss was 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 squad targeting a first major tournament appearance.

They have not yet played Wales.

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

They were 13 minutes away from clinching a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the teams tied in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.

Wales have failed to beat the Bosnian side in 4 attempts but did have a unforgettable loss against the Dragons as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite losing.

As his country's all-time top goalscorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's standout player.

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

Lastly, we have Ireland.

After secured only a single point from their opening 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the play-offs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott netted the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a hat-trick – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to take runner-up place in their group in dramatic fashion.

Key player Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his side's resurgence while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one position his to keep.

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