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Wales' focus are firmly on Thursday's World Cup playoff draw as they await learning their semifinal and possible final rivals.

After ended as runners-up in their qualifying pool thanks to a decisive 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – Wales will host the semifinal match on their own turf.

They will face either Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo or Republic of Ireland in that match on 26 March.

Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will welcome a tie against any opponent after their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.

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

"A lot of fans were wondering recently, 'do we actually want Ireland because of that local feel?'. In my view many supporters didn't. But for me, that would be fantastic.

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

"But you just feel that we're prepared for anyone right now and it doesn't matter, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semi-final Rivals Evaluated

Wales sit thirty-fourth in the FIFA standings, with Albania sixty-first, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and the Kosovan side 84th.

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

Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's prominent names, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their scoring tally in the qualifiers with three goals.

Notably, Albania have never qualified for a World Cup, although they featured at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, failing to reach the knockout stages on each occasions.

As Slovenia and Sweden had difficult runs, with both not managing to win a qualifying match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

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

The Kosovan squad feature former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time leading goalscorer – in a squad targeting a maiden major tournament appearance.

They have not yet faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia-Herzegovina lost only one time in the qualifiers, and earned a points additional than the Welsh managed in their eight games, but still ended 2 points behind of their group winners Austria.

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

Wales have not managed to defeat the Bosnian side in 4 attempts but experienced a memorable loss against the Dragons as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after losing.

Being his nation's all-time leading scorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's standout player.

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

And finally, we have Ireland.

Having 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 netted the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to secure second spot in their group in thrilling fashion.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his team's resurgence while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting position his to keep.

Ireland are winless in their last four meetings with the Welsh, losing three of these, though James McClean broke the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.