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Wales' sights are firmly on Thursday's World Cup playoff draw as they prepare for learning their semifinal and potential final challengers.

Having finished as runners-up in their qualification group thanks to a decisive 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – the side will play the semifinal encounter on their own turf.

They will play against either Albania, Bosnia, the Kosovan team or Republic of Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw believes the Dragons will relish a match against any team following their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mindset is 'bring on anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw stated.

"A lot of supporters were asking recently, 'should we actually want Ireland because of that local atmosphere?'. In my view a number of supporters didn't. But for me, that would be amazing.

"It's one of those, yes, we're ready for Kosovo or the Bosnians and Albania are not bad and Ireland, naturally, they're a capable team so it will be difficult.

"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."

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Wales are placed 34th in the world rankings, with Albania sixty-first, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and Kosovo 84th.

Albania had a impressive qualifying run, with their sole defeats suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who secured full points without conceding a single goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's more notable names, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their scoring chart in qualifying with 3 goals.

Importantly, the Albanians have not yet qualified for a FIFA World Cup, although they featured at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, not managing to advance to the last 16 on each occasions.

As Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid runs, with each not managing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Switzerland finished the six-game qualifiers 3 points clear of the Kosovans, whose one loss came at the hands of the group winners.

The Kosovan squad feature ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic leading goalscorer – in a squad targeting a first international competition appearance.

They have never played Wales.

Bosnia were defeated just once in qualifying, and claimed a point additional than the Welsh achieved in their 8 games, but still ended 2 points behind 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 leveler for the Austrians ensured the teams drew in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.

Wales have not managed to defeat the Bosnians in four attempts but experienced a unforgettable defeat against the Dragons as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite losing.

As his country's all-time leading scorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player.

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

And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.

After taken only a single point from their opening three matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the playoffs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a hat-trick – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to take second spot in Group F in thrilling style.

Talisman Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his team's resurgence while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting position his to keep.

Ireland are winless in their last 4 encounters with Wales, losing three of these, although James McClean shattered the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.