The Welsh team Ready to Take on Whichever Opponent in FIFA World Cup Playoff Draw

The team's attention are firmly on Thursday's World Cup play-off fixture as they await learning their semifinal and possible final opponents.

Having finished second in their qualifying group thanks to a decisive 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – the side will host the semifinal encounter on home soil.

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

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw thinks the Dragons will embrace a match against whichever team 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, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw commented.

"A lot of fans were asking recently, 'should we really want Republic of Ireland because of that local atmosphere?'. In my view a number of people didn't. But for me, that could be fantastic.

"It's one of those, yes, we'll take Kosovo or the Bosnians and the Albanians are not bad and Republic of Ireland, of course, they are a capable team so it will be tough.

"However the sense is that we'll take anyone right now and it doesn't matter, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

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The Welsh squad sit 34th in the FIFA standings, with Albania 61st, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side 84th.

Albania had a solid qualification campaign, with their sole defeats suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured maximum points without allowing a single goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's recognizable players, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their goal chart in qualifying with 3 goals.

Notably, Albania have never earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, though they featured at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, failing to advance to the last 16 on both occasions.

While Slovenia and Sweden had poor campaigns, with both failing to win a qualifying match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Swiss finished the six-game qualifiers three points ahead of Kosovo, whose single loss came at the hands of the group winners.

The Kosovan squad include ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time leading goalscorer – in a squad aiming for a maiden international competition appearance.

They have not yet faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated just once in the qualifiers, and earned a point more than the Welsh managed in their 8 games, but nonetheless finished two points behind of their group winners Austria.

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

The Welsh have not managed to defeat the Bosnian side in 4 attempts but did have a unforgettable defeat against the Dragons as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

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

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

And finally, we have Ireland.

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

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

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

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their past 4 meetings with Wales, defeated in three of those, though James McClean broke the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.