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

After finished as runners-up in their qualifying pool thanks to a dominant 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – the side will play the semi-final encounter on their own turf.

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

Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will welcome a tie against any 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, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw stated.

"A lot of supporters were asking recently, 'do we really want Ireland because of that derby atmosphere?'. In my view many people didn't. But for me, that would be fantastic.

"It's that type of situation, yes, we'll take Kosovo or the Bosnians and the Albanians are competitive and Republic of Ireland, of course, they're a strong team so they'll be challenging.

"But you just feel that we'll take anybody at the moment and we're confident, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

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The Welsh squad are placed thirty-fourth in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia 75th and Kosovo eighty-fourth.

The Albanian national team had a strong qualifying run, with their only defeats coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed maximum points without conceding a solitary goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's prominent names, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their scoring tally in the qualifiers with 3 goals.

It is worth noting, the Albanians have never qualified for a FIFA World Cup, although they featured at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, failing to reach the knockout stages on both times.

As Slovenia and Sweden had torrid runs, with both failing to win a qualification match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Swiss finished the six-match campaign three points ahead of the Kosovans, whose one defeat was at the hands of the group winners.

Kosovo feature ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic leading goalscorer – in a squad targeting a maiden international competition appearance.

They have not yet faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia-Herzegovina lost only one time in qualifying, and earned a point more than the Welsh achieved in their 8 games, but nonetheless finished 2 points adrift of Group H 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 final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.

The Welsh have not managed to beat the Bosnians in 4 matches but experienced a unforgettable loss against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

As his nation's historic leading scorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player.

The veteran was his squad's leading goalscorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.

And finally, we have Ireland.

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

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

Key player Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his side's resurgence while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one jersey his own.

Ireland are without a win in their last four encounters with the Welsh, losing three of those, although James McClean broke the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.